Half-Blood High
by Percyjacksonfan3
Summary: Modern Day AU where Annabeth is the popular girl dating the most popular jock in school- Luke Castellan. When she and a boy named Percy Jackson cross paths it leads to a whirlwind of mystery, problems and romance. No one has ever hated Annabeth before, but it seems Percy does. That's one thing Annabeth is desperate to change- although she's not altogether sure why. Very good story!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

oooOOOooo

"Annabeth!" Athena called from downstairs in the kitchen. "Hurry up, your bus is waiting!"

Annabeth checked herself in the mirror one last time, screwing shut the lid to her pink lipgloss. "Coming!" She yelled back, "don't worry, it'll wait a bit longer!"

She could practically hear the frown on her mother's face at her words. She definitely heard the impatience and the disapointment in her tone. "If you miss that bus, young lady, I promise you..." She trailed off, but Annaebth got the threat loud and clear.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the strap of her purse, rushing out the door of her bathroom to the stairs, practically flying down them to the hall and out the front door. "Bye mom, bye dad!" She called out hurriedly behind her.

"Bye honey!" Frederick Chase yelled back at her.

"Do your best!" Athena barked out after her father.

Annabeth slowed down a few feet in front of the bus, wiping a stray curl of hair from her face. She collected herself, took a deep breath, and stepped onto the bus.

She immediately had to resist the urge to wrinkle her nose. The kids around her were either just that, kids too young to drive, or unpopular teens with no sense of how to arrive to school in style. She looked around and took a tentative step forward, finally spotting an empty seat. She checked it for any signs of disfigurement, any stains or wet spots. When it passed the test she sat down, resisting the urge to stand up and just walk off the large yellow vehicle.

You used to ride the bus all the time, she told herself. Calm down.

She took a breath, clutching her purse on her lap to avoid it touching anything unnecesarily. The bus had just jerked forwards, finally moving, when a moderately pretty girl with brown hair and blue eyes turned around from in front of Annabeth to speak to her.

"You don't want to sit there." The girl said.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, not used to people telling her what to do. "Why not?"

"Percy Jackson sits there," the girl said hushed, like it was a secret. "Every day since he moved here. He's never let anybody else sit there and won't move for anybody."

Annabeth smiled at the girl, unconcerned. "I'm sure he won't mind me sitting here."

The girl shook her head. "He will," she assured Annabeth. "He doesn't move for anybody."

Annabeth shrugged a shoulder, still trying to think of who Percy Jackson even was. "I'll be fine."

The girl looked at her in disbelief. She was silent for a few seconds before her eyes shot towards the bus doors that had just opened to let on a teenage guy with raven black hair.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," was the last words she muttered to Annabeth before turning back around.

Annabeth stared at the back of her head in shock. What was the big deal about a stupid bus seat? Who was that girl to tell Annabeth Chase where she could and could not sit anyway? From the looks of it, that girl didn't even know how to pencil in her eyebrows right.

A figure suddenly blocked out the sun and Annabeth glanced over to find the boy who had just gotten on standing in the middle of the bus aisle and staring down at her.

He was tan, tall and muscular, she noticed. His body, from what she could see, was definitely attractive. She looked up at his face, about to open her mouth and speak, when she met his eyes and suddenly found her throat going dry.

The black hair complimented his tan face very well, and his teeth were perfectly white and straight. But none of that made any impression on Annabeth. What she was staring at were his eyes. Perfectly sea green, they held so much depth and emotion that Annabeth was breathless. They could be enrapturing, she was sure, if he was happy. As it was Annabeth was still caught up in them.

Even though he wasn't happy. In fact, he looked puzzled.

"You're in my seat." He said stupidly.

She was snapped out of staring at his eyes- because that's what she had been doing, she realized in mortification, staring- to glancing at his lips. They were good lips, she saw. Very attractive. She always had loved guys with nice lips...

Finally she understood what he had just said and frowned. "Excuse me?" She asked him.

Cute or not, nobody spoke to her like that.

He cleared his throat, a bored expression taking place on his face, replacing the almost shy one that had been there for less than a second. "That's my seat." He stated.

So this must have been Percy Jackson. Annabeth didn't really remember seeing him around before.

"Oh." Annabeth said, and glanced down. "Well I'm really comfortable here, so..."

The boy who was sitting across the aisle from her stuck his head around Percy. "But that's his seat," he said, as if that explained everything and was a good enough reason for Annabeth to just get up and move.

"I'm sorry," she said sweetly. "I didn't realize we were in third grade."

The boy, who looked maybe a couple of years younger than Annabeth herself, blushed slightly before pulling back, muttering something to himself.

Percy was quiet throughout the whole ordeal but at Annabeth's answer he snorted. She grinned, assuming he was laughing at the boy, before she looked up and saw he was staring at her with something like disappointment in his eyes.

He was laughing at her.

Well screw him, she thought to herself. But she didn't look away from him.

Percy shook his head slightly before sitting with the boy across from Annabeth, not saying a word the entire time. When he sat down he turned to the boy and Annabeth heard snatches of their conversation.

"Hey Nico," Percy said.

"Perce." Nico said, before glancing towards Annabeth again. She noticed all of that out of the corner of her eye. "Why didn't you make her move?"

She glanced up in time to meet Percy's eyes, turned back towards her. They held contact for a moment, before Annabeth dropped hers and turned, facing forwards instead of sideways in her seat.

She saw Percy shrug out of her peripheral vision. "It's just a seat man. Besides, do you honestly think she would have moved?"

She didn't hear anything after that.

oooOOOooo

Annabeth had practically run over the kids in front of her on her way off the bus, making her way towards her boyfriend's locker where she knew he and her friends would be waiting.

"Annabeth!" Thalia Grace said loudly. "Hey girl, why were you so late?"

"My ride," Annabeth said, pointedly looking at her boyfriend, "cancelled on me and I had to take the bus."

Luke Castellan grinned at her easily, unaffected by her words. He made his way over to her and slung an arm around her shoulder, giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Hey babes."

She smiled at him happily. "Hi Luke."

"So you had to ride the bus," Piper Mclean, who was a year younger than Annabeth and two years younger than Luke and Thalia, interrupted them. "That sucks."

"Yeah," Jason Grace, Thalia's younger brother spoke up. He was Piper's boyfriend and in the same year as her.

"Did you have to sit with anyone?" Luke asked her. "'Cause I swear, if you got touched by any of the slimy guys in this school..."

She smiled at how jealous he was. "No, I didn't." She promised him. "Although it was close. I took this guy's seat and he almost made me move."

"Who?" Thalia asked curiously.

"Was he cute?" Piper asked.

"I have a boyfriend, Pipes," Annabeth answered her smiling, avoiding the question. "And his name was Percy Jackson."

"Jackson?" Luke asked in surprise, while Thalia and Jason asked "Percy?" at the same time.

"Yeah." Annabeth nodded. "You know him?"

"Sure," Luke said. "He's that loser who moved here a year ago. Hangs out with Hazel and Frank from Piper and Jason's grade, and that other guy Nico who I'm pretty sure is a goth loner. Oh! And Grover."

Annabeth frowned at the last name. "Grover? Like from when we were kids Grover?"

Luke nodded. "They're a group of oddballs."

Thalia, Annabeth noticed, was staring at Luke with pursed lips, not saying a word. Annabeth tried to find something to say but couldn't think of anything.

"Anyway," Luke said after a second. "I need to get to class. If I'm late I'm pretty sure I get detention from Mr. Arland. Stupid old sot always marks me late."

"That's cause you're usually late Luke," Thalia said, smiling.

Usually Luke wouldn't have let anyone say that, even as a joke. He would get defensive like he always did. But this time he let it slide, probably because it was Thalia. "Like you have a perfect attendance record, Thals."

She grinned. "Nah, that's Annie over here."

Annabeth smiled. "It's not that hard."

Luke shrugged. "Maybe for you," he said before quickly kissing her. "I'll see you at break." He said, walking down the hall, fist bumping guys and smiling at girls as he went.

"Catch ya later," Thalia said, before rushing to catch up with him and immediately engaging him in conversation.

"We should go too," Piper said, taking Jason's hand. "See ya, Annabeth!"

"Bye," she called out as they walked away.

She smiled and adjusted the purse strap on her shoulder, walking towards her locker as she did so. She unlocked it and grabbed her textbook and notebook for science. It was the only class (except physical education) that she was in that wasn't advanced and she was around the people who were her age and would usually be in her classes if she wasn't so smart.

Half-Blood High was a small school. Only a couple of hundred people went from the small town of Rivers in California. Annabeth had lived here her entire life, as had her mother and most of the parents of current students. One of Annabeth's biggest goals in life was to move, far away from here. To escape, like her mother never did. Annabeth wanted to live in a big city, filled with people and new places, of amazing architeture. She had signed up for travel club in the hopes of going to Greece to study the amazing sights there, and when she grew up she wanted to be an architect.

She smiled as she closed her locker. If things went well for the rest of the second semester, she would be perfectly fine.

oooOOOooo

Science was about sexual reproduction, and since it was grade eleven, Mrs. Mccoy figured the class would be mature enough to conduct an experiment.

"Mr. Jackson," she called out. Percy jerked his head up from his desk, obviously having not been listening. "The one thing needed to reproduce sexually is a mate. To find a mate you need to find someone you're attracted to. Correct?"

"Yeah." He said slowly, obviously unsure, like everybody else in the class, where this was going.

"So," Mrs. Mccoy looked around the room before her eyes fell on Annabeth. "Let's say that you're sexually attracted to Ms. Chase here. What qualities make her attractive to you?"

Annabeth spluttered and Percy sat there not saying a word. "Excuse me?" Annabeth asked.

Mrs. Mccoy looked through her red librarian's glasses with her green eyes at Annabeth. Her brown hair was slightly greasy and in a ponytail today and although jeans were always a good choice for wear, the polka dot baggy shirt that was paired with it definitely did not go. "I think you heard me," Mrs. Mccoy told her.

"You want me to..." Percy trailed off.

"Tell me three characteristics you find attractive in Ms. Chase." The teacher said. "One must be physical."

"You want him to- to evalute me based on my attractive qualities?" Annabeth asked the teacher incredulously.

"Yes." Mrs. Mccoy answered, obviously getting annoyed. "Now be quiet when Mr. Jackson's speaking."

"He's not doing much speaking now," Travis Stoll said out loud, and laughed right along with most of the class.

Percy shot Travis an annoyed look. "Thanks man, huge help you are."

Connor grinned. "That's my brothere here. Always willing to help."

Katie Gardiner rolled her eyes. "Sure," she muttered. "That's what Travis is."

"Class," Mrs. Mccoy said warningly.

"Right," Percy said. "Okay."

He looked over at Annabeth, meeting her eyes. She waited, unsure how to feel about this assignment, but knowing that she wanted to hear what Percy had to say.

"She has nice eyes," he said at last.

She felt a flutter in her stomach at his words. Annabeth had always liked her eyes, although they were an unusual colour. Luke had always liked her lips, but Annabeth had always thought her hair and her eyes were her best qualities.

For some stupid, unknown reason she had to resist blushing at Percy's words.

"Why?" Mrs. Mccoy asked.

Percy glanced away from Annabeth to the teacher. "What?"

"Why her eyes, specifically. Tell me something about them that make them nice."

"Okay," Percy scratched the back of his neck. "Erm... they sorta..." He trailed off, looking at Annabeth again, staring straight at her.

She didn't look away.

"They're kinda like a storm or something," Percy said. "But you can see in her eyes how she's really feeling, while the rest of herself is closed off."

"Ohh..." Some boys muttered, Travis muttered "Awww..." and Katie rolled her eyes again.

"Good! Very good!" Mrs. Mccoy said. "Now 2 other things. Something about her character."

Percy frowned and looked away from Annabeth. "She's smart and nice." He said.

Mrs. Mccoy frowned. "Deeper, Percy, go deeper. Something personal."

Annabeth frowned, suddenly nervous and shy. If she hadn't even known who Percy was before this morning, how was he supposed to know something personal about her?

Again she felt Percy's eyes on her and turned back, meeting his stare.

"She's smart," he finally said again, staring at her. "But she's also alone."

There was a sudden stunned silence after that. After a few seconds, Annabeth turned away from him to stare resolutely at the blackboard in front of her front row desk.

How. Dare. He. Annabeth thought to herself. What gave him the right, the nerve... how could he possibly suggest...?

"Excellent," Mrs. Mccoy said. "That's really good. And why does this make her attractive?"

Percy shrugged. "I dunno. People wanna find out why, I guess. Not me personally, but I'm sure others wanna."

Annabeth didn't know why that comment bothered her so much.

"Hmm," Mrs. Mccoy muttered. "Interesting." There was a pause. "What about you Annabeth?" Mrs. Mccoy asked. "What are three things that attract you to Percy?"

She smiled sweetly, to hide the anger and turmoil inside her. "Nothing, Mrs. Mccoy. I'm not attracted to loners like Percy."

"Ohh..." Guys crowed. "That's a burn man," Connor said from the back but Annabeth didn't look behind her.

For some reason she didn't think she could handle meeting Percy's eyes.

"Right," Percy's voice sounded from the back, hard but loud, cutting through the mutters of the class. "But you act like I could possibly be attracted to a jock's trophy girlfriend."

"Snap, crackle and pop." The Stoll brothers said together.

"Alright," Mrs. Mccoy said. "This has gotten out of hand. Percy, Annabeth, thank you for participating. Your efforts were... commendable."

She heard a snort from behind her but didn't turn to see who it was.

"Let's move on to body language," Mrs. Mccoy continued. "How do you know when a person..."

Annabeth stopped listening, tapping her pencil insistently against the coil of her notebook. After minutes had passed she sneaked a glance back at Percy, trying to hide behind her hair.

He was staring at her, his eyes hard. Behind them there was an emotion Annabeth couldn't read- she hardly knew him well enough for that- but one that she clearly saw. It made her gut twist, made her feel rotten.

Which was completely stupid, of course. He had been the one who had insulted her. He said first that he 'personally, he couldn't find her attractive', had said she was alone. He, Percy Jackson, a guy she hadn't even known about before today, had insulted her, Annabeth Chase, debatedly the most popular girl in school and Luke Castellan's girlfriend.

So why was it she felt so bad?

oooOOOooo

She left the class in a hurry and went through advanced calculus and history in a blur. She hardly remembered a thing. After history it had been break and Annabeth had met up with Luke at his locker again.

Although he hadn't been alone.

There was a group of guys, Luke's usual 'buddies', surrounding a scared looking freshman. The freshman was nerdy looking, with big glasses, big blue eyes and flappy ears. He had curly red hair and pale skin and baggy clothes.

Not one of Luke's friends, that was for sure. Luke liked people who owned flashy cars, rocked major designer labels and dated popular people. Due to Luke's dad, Hermes, being the boss of a huge shipping company, Hermes Express, Luke got practically all of the money he could ever need for nothing but a simple "Please Dad?"

It came in handy when Luke was buying presents for her, Annabeth thought grinning. The diamond bracelet he had gotten her for her birthday last June was laying on top of her jewlery box at home right now.

Right now it seemed like the guys were tormenting the freshman. Ethan Nakamura slammed him against a locker suddenly and Luke smacked the kid's books out of his hands and onto the hallway floor.

Everyone else was in their classes or had somehow been made to disappear Annabeth realized. The guy must have been late or something and been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Hey guys," she said easily, acting like nothing was wrong. "What's up?"

Luke snickered. "See here, Harry," he said. "Now even my girlfriend gets to hear you whimper like a girl."

Annabeth lifted her eyes to look at him in surprise. It had been awhile since she had heard him speak like that to anybody. "Luke," she said. "What are you doing?"

"Dude," Ethan spoke in a whine. "Can't you shut your girlfriend up? I wanna make this guy cry."

"Quiet, Annabeth," he said, annoyed.

Annabeth stood there silently, unsure how to handle the situation. She loved Luke, was his girlfriend, but this was wrong and she knew it. The only way to get him to stop was to distract him, or act like nothing bad was going on.

But could she really do that? Maybe if she said something, pointed out to him that this was bullying...

"Luke," Annabeth said quietly.

"What?" He looked over at her, still slightly annoyed. "It's just some fun, Annabeth, learn to loosen up. What's the problem?"

She hesitated, glancing at the kid in front of them. His eyes were wide and that's what really got to Annabeth.

He was actually scared.

She forced a smile and turned back to her boyfriend. "Nothing," she said, and forced a laugh. "But the bell's going to ring in like, 2 minutes, so we should probably get to class. You don't want Mrs. Delacy to mark you late again, right?"

She heard complaints from the guys around them but didn't look away from Luke.

He studied her for a few seconds before nodding. "Get lost, kid." He muttered to the boy.

Annabeth watched as he picked up his books from the floor with shaking hands before hurrying off to whatever class he was in this period. She looked back at Luke and he smiled at her easily like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

And that was when she realized; it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Luke did this all the time. He was a bully and he did it for fun.

When had he changed so much? Why hadn't she noticed before? Why had she let it happen?

She met his blue eyes and saw the boy she had crushed on for years, soft and caring, worried that she wasn't okay. He was so amazing with her, so protective and caring. Why couldn't anybody else see that?

He was just misunderstood, Annabeth told herself. That was why so many people didn't like him. Sure, what he had just done to that kid was wrong, but he hadn't really hurt anybody, right?Annabeth wasn't sure and she knew that she wouldn't like what her answer would be if she thought about it any more, so she decided to put it out of her mind.

"C'mon guys," Luke said to the rest of them. "We gotta go to class."

"You're taking me home after school today, right?" Annabeth asked him before he could leave and follow the rest of them.

Luke stopped, closing his locker. "Right, about that. See I got lot's of homework tonight and I need to go see my mom so..."

Luke's mom, May Castellan, was in some sort of mental hospital. Apparently she had suffered from a nervous breakdown a few years ago and had never really completely gotten over it. Luke told Annabeth that she still had 'episodes' sometimes. That was why Annabeth had never been to his place or met his mother. She had only seen his father for a few minutes at a time when he came to the school or picked Luke up when he couldn't drive himself.

"So?" She asked him.

"So I can't give you a ride home tonight," he said shortly. "Find someone else, or take the bus again. Better yet, get your own damn car so I can stop having to drive you around everywhere."

Annabeth stared at him in shock. What was his problem? She thought in annoyance, trying to ignore the hurt his words gave her.

He must have seen something in her expression because next thing she knew his face softened and he was reaching out for her. "Annabeth..."

"Forget it," she pulled her hand out of his grasp. "I'll find my own ride home."

She turned on her heel and stalked away, not noticing the pair of seagreen eyes following her from behind a locker door, and not listening to Luke as he yelled after her, "Call me when you're not so PMS!"

Jerk.

The last class of the day was Phys Ed. and Annabeth's worst subject. She wasn't a bad athlete, quite the opposite actually, but she didn't like sports. Therefore she didn't try and got a bad mark.

Sports got you sweaty and gross. As long as Annabeth was skinny and had good blood pressure and everything she was healthy enough in her book and didn't like doing any excercises except her own.

Percy was in this class, she remembered, since this wasn't an advanced lesson.

Great. Just freaking fantastic. Like she needed to see anymore of him than she already had today.

Today was the first day she really noticed him in gym and she couldn't help but be surprised when she liked what she saw. Even sweaty and gross, Percy was hot. Annabeth found her eyes being drawn over to him more than once in the class and couldn't help but blush when he caught her looking once and smirked cockily.

Damn him.

"Listen up class!" Ms. Lacey yelled out. "I want you to split into partners and do some ladder excercises."

Annabeth looked around and her eyes met Katie's. She grinned and walked over to the farmgirl. "Partners?" She asked.

Katie nodded. "Thank gods," she muttered. "I did not want to be stuck with Clarisse again."

Annabeth snorted. "Looks like Clarisse gets to be partners with Silena."

Katie laughed. "Never thought I'd feel sorry for Clarisse, but everybody knows how bad Silena is at gym."

Annabeth nodded. "I'll get the ladder."

"Cool," Katie said.

They ended up being in between Travis and Connor and Percy and Grover, the latter being on their right while the former were on their left. Travis, Annabeth noticed, kept glancing over at Katie throughout the class. And Katie, she also saw, always seemed to be looking in that direction when Travis had his back turned.

She rolled her eyes. The sooner those two stopped being so oblivious the better.

The class itself was easy. Jumping in and out of floor ladders, hopping, side stepping and other excercises. The only real disturbance was when Grover Underwood, the kid partnered with Percy, tripped and tangled his feet on the ladder and fell on the floor.

"Ow!" He cried out.

Grover had never be agile, even as a kid. He was a major clutz and had some sort of disease in his legs that made it hard for him to move them fast. When he and Annabeth had used to hang out she had made sure to always be careful around him, not wanting him to get hurt.

Around her kids laughed or smiled at Grover. Even Annabeth had to bite back a laugh.

Ms. Lacey called out from the other side of the gym, "You okay Mr. Underwood?"

"Fine!" Grover called back nervously.

"Then get back up and try again!" Ms. Lacey yelled back, causing everyone to laugh harder before turning back to their own excercises.

All but one.

Percy walked over to where Grover was sitting and pulled the ladder off of him gently. "You okay man?"

Grover nodded. "Yeah. Just tripped."

Percy smiled and held out a hand, offering to help Grover up. Grover accepted and Annabeth noticed how Percy's arm muscles bulged slightly at the gesture. He clapped Grover on the back and smiled. "Let's hope I can make it through this thing without breaking my neck, huh?"

Grover laughed and Annabeth watched them carefully as they put the ladder back in it's proper place. She couldn't help the smile on her face at Percy's gesture and obvious attempt to make Grover feel better- or at least less embarrased.

She watched as Percy went through the ladder, hopping first in, then out on either side. In fact, Percy was a natural athlete. Annabeth noticed how far he jumped, how balanced he was and how fast he was.

Huh, impressive.

"Annabeth?" Katie's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned her head to meet the girl's gaze.

"Yeah?" She asked after a second.

Katie smiled at her and Annabeth didn't like the knowing look in her eyes. "It's your turn."

"Oh." Annabeth said. "Oh right. Thanks."

"Sure," Katie said, still with that twinkle in her eyes.

After the class was over and Annabeth was putting her and Katie's ladder away, she felt someone brush up against her.

"That was nice," she said suddenly, "what you did for Grover."

Percy looked over at her in surprise before raising an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

She shifted slightly, crossing her arms. "What?" She asked defensively.

Percy shook his head. "It just seems a bit hypocritical," he said. "You thanking me for helping Grover out when you were one of the ones who ditched him years ago."

Annabeth stood there, stunned for the billionth time that day. "I never ditched Grover," she replied with narrowed eyes. At Percy's snort she continued. "And besides, I wasn't thanking you, I merely said it was nice."

"Well don't bother," Percy said. "Besides, it's what friends do for each other. Anyone else would have done it for their friend."

He walked away towards the boys changing room without another word, leaving Annabeth staring after him with an open mouth, contemplating his words.

Would she have done that for her friend? She'd like to think so. Would they have done it for her? Maybe, a few of them. Thalia, came to the forefront of her mind.

What about Luke? A voice whispered in her mind. You know he wouldn't have, don't you.

"Shut up." Annabeth said out loud, before realizing what she had done and looking around, relief filling her when she realized no one else was there.

Gods this day sucked.

oooOOOooo

The bus ride home had been quiet for Annabeth and she had taken out her book to read, thankful she finally had time to do so. Lately, since she had started dating Luke, she had found she hadn't had as much time to read or draw as she had used to. It was a disappointing thought, since anybody who knew Annabeth knew she loved to read, but if it was what she had to sacrifice for dating the most popular guy in school then it was what she would do.

When she got home she immediately headed up to her room and changed into yoga pants and a loose fitting top, slapping her hair up into a ponytail and removing most of the makeup from her face. Tonight was a night for relaxing and since she wasn't going to see anybody for the rest of the night except her parents, there was no reason to put in any effort to her appearance.

She put her Ipod on her dock, turning up the sound on her speakers until the song "My Blood" by Ellie Goulding was blasting from them. She looked around her room, wondering what she could do for the next hour until dinner.

Her left wall was completely taken up by white shelfs that held books, magazines, little trinkets, pictures and projects from when she was little. Her bed was in the back right corner and there was a desk beside it. On her right wall there was a white wardrobe. Her floors were a deep purple carpet and her walls were a nice, turquoise blue.

Annabeth's eyes landed on her yearbook from last year and sudden curiosity filled her. She walked over and grabbed it, flipping through the pages until she landed on her class candid shots. She scanned the page, flipping through it for last names starting with J, until she found who she was looking for.

Percy Jackson's life goal is to see everybody he cares about happy.

Annabeth smiled at that, despite how cheesy it was. She looked at his picture, noticing a necklace he was wearing that seemed strangely familiar to her. It had five beads on it but the markings on them were too small to make out in the picture. His hair was sticking up and looked kinda crazy but sexy at the same time. He was a skater guy type, no doubt about it, but instead of being repulsed Annaebth was strangely attracted to him. And his eyes, gods those eyes...

She shook her head. Boyfriend, Annabeth, you have a boyfriend.

She flipped back to the page with her on it and looked down to see her life goal.

Annabeth Chase's life goal is to get married to Luke Castellan.

She wrinkled her nose at it. Compared to Percy's, her life goal was shallow, if not self absorbed. For some reason that disappointed her.

She had wanted to say her life goal was to becom an architect, but Piper had told her that nobody would care and had told her to write something about Luke because that would be amazingly cute. So she had erased her goal of becoming an architect and had said she wanted to marry Luke.

Annabeth flipped back to Percy's picture and couldn't help but stare, taking in every detail. He really was cute, she thought. But there was something else about him, something deeper. There was a look in his eyes...

Annabeth closed her yearbook, replacing it on the shelf and moved to her desk, starting up her computer. Hurriedly she logged on and clicked onto Facebook, logging in and searching up the name 'Percy Jackson.'

She was friends with him, Annabeth realized. She must have accepted without really knowing who he was. All of his posts must have been lost to her amidst the others from her friends and relatives.

He was single, she saw, and he liked sports.

Funny, she couldn't remember seeing him on any of the sports teams. Or at any of Luke's games.

"Annabeth!" Athena called up. "Turn that music down! And get downstairs, it's time for dinner!"

"Coming!" She called back, trying not to let her annoyance show through in her tone.

She got off of Percy's page, scolding herself. What was she doing, practically stalking a guy she had just talked to today? Why was she so obsessed with him?

She turned off her computer and headed downstairs, hurrying to her seat at the dining table.

Tonight was chicken breast with a side of salad, Annabeth saw.

"The food tastes wonderful dear," her dad said after a few minutes of silent eating.

"Thank you," Athena replied with a smile. Annabeth's dad was the only one who could still make Athena smile like that. "I used a new recipe I found the other day."

"It is really good mom," Annabeth said.

Athena turned to her. "Sit straight when you're eating dear," she said.

Immediately Annabeth corrected her (slight) slouch and continued eating in silence. There was a few more minutes of silence before Athena spoke. "So, Annabeth, how was school today?"

"Fine," Annabeth replied. When she looked up and saw Athena gazing at her expectantly she sighed. "I got 100% in my math test from yesterday and knew all of my history lesson today. Gym was the same as usual and science... well I did everything Mrs. Mccoy asked me to."

Athena nodded, satisfied, and continued to eat. "Good. You need to keep your grades up if you want to go to Harvard or Stanford."

Annabeth smiled uneasily. "Right."

Her dad complimented Annabeth on her work effort, spoke a bit to her mother and then dinner was finished and Annabeth headed back upstairs to her room. She checked her phone and saw she had two new texts, one from Luke and one from Thalia.

She checked Thalia's first. 'Wat happened with u & Perce 2day?'

'Nothing really.' Annabeth replied. 'How do u kno him?'

The she checked Luke's.

'Real srry bout wat happened. Call me and I'll make it up to u, promise."

Annabeth frowned and sighed. As far as apologies went that was about the best she would get from Luke. 'It's ok, I'll call u tomorrow. Got hw to do 2nite.'

He replied a second later. 'K.'

Thalia replied to her text right after that and Annabeth opened it. 'Percy's Jason and I's cousin. So is Nico.'

'Woah,' Annabeth replied. 'For real? Why don't they hang out with us?'

'Perce and Luke don't get along,' Thalia replied a minute later. 'Plus Percy would never ditch his friends like that.'

Annabeth read the message but didn't reply, Thalia's answer reminded her of what Percy had said to her after gym that day.

She hadn't ditched Grover, not really. They had just drifted apart.

Right?

She shook her head and took her Ipod and earbuds out to listen to music, laying back on her bed. She closed her eyes but was still unable to get the look in Percy's eyes as he had spoken to her out of her mind.

Revulsion.

He judged her so harshly and he didn't even know her. He knew nothing about her, or her life. How could he possibly think he had a right to stand there and deal out judgement when they had barely had a conversation?

She fell asleep after thinking and tossing and turning a bit, Percy's eyes burning the image of themselves into her mind.

oooOOOooo

**Good first chapter? Review and tell me what you think! Next chapter will explain background stories more, I just needed an opening!Plus you can be sure of more Percebeth to come! And soon!**

**Love you all!**

**Percyjacksonfan3**


	2. Tutoring

**Thanks to everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed! I'm glad you all liked it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own.**

Last night Annabeth had fallen asleep thinking of what Percy had said about her and Grover. About how she had ditched him.

To know about Annabeth, you had to know about her past; and to know about her past you had to go back a couple of generations.

Years and years ago a group of old friends from Half-Blood High had retired and moved back to Rivers. Some of the women had been pregnant and, for some strange reason, they had decided to ... uniquely name their children.

Kronos and Rhea, a couple who had been high school sweethearts, had had fraternal triplets. Their children had been named after the Big Three of the Greek gods. Hades, the oldest, Poseidon, and then Zeus, the youngest. They looked nothing alike.

Zeus was all professional haircuts, business suits and ties. He owned the airline Olympus Air, and made billions of dollars a year. He had married Hera right after finishing high school (the names had been purely coincidental) and had been a womanizer ever since. He had gotten together with Thalia's mother a few years later, showering her with presents and money, and had Thalia. Hera had eventually found out and forbidden Zeus from ever seeing the woman again- but not before Zeus had fathered another child with her about two years later, Jason.

Their mother had been a known alcoholic and had been in a terrible car accident one night when Thalia was about 5 years old, Jason being 3. She had died and police had learned there had been enough alcohol in her system to sedate a horse. Jason remembered almost nothing about his mother while Thalia remembered more than enough. After the crash the children had been given to their closest living blood relation- Zeus and Hera.

Annabeth had heard more than a few stories about Thalia's wicked step mom. Hera was obsessed with keeping up appearances of the perfect family but that one was more messed up than even Annabeth's.

Poseidon, Annabeth had learned from extensive research last night, was the more relaxed, funny and casual brother with dark raven hair and green eyes- eyes the exact same as Percy's. He owned about a dozen fishing boats, an entire shrimping business and was richer than anybody had a right to be. He had fallen in love with Sally Jackson one summer and Percy had been born the next year in August. However the month before he was born Poseidon had gone on a fishing trip and met Amphitrite. He fathered Triton and instead of coming back to Percy and Sally he had moved back home to Rivers and settled down with his brand new wife and youngest son.

Not to say he wasn't a father to Percy, because he was. He paid child support and helped Sally out. That was all the information Annabeth had gotten on him.

And on Hades she had barely any. Hades was the quiet, sullen child, constantly overlooked. He designed coffins for a living and had two children with Maria di'Angelo while still in highschool before she had died from a freak hit and run. Hades had remarried a couple of years later, a sweet girl more than a few years younger than him, named Persephone. People said he had paid her, or convinced her while she had still been in highschool. Persephone's mother, Demeter, apparently hated her son in law. But Persephone had been good for the family, helping Hades be more social, acting as much of a mother as she could to Nico and Bianca- although the knowledge that the children weren't her own always haunted her, Annabeth was sure.

Sadly, Bianca had died while on a trip with some of her friends when she was 14 years old. Annabeth wasn't exactly sure how, there wasn't much information, but she remembered hearing about it a couple of years back. The whole town had been in mourning, apparently everyone had loved the sweet, quiet girl. Hades had become ever more closed off than before and Nico had started dressing in black everyday and acting like a goth.

Annabeth didn't know how she had never learned these things before. She knew Thalia didn't like talking about things at home, but for a small town with barely any secrets, that family had done a good job of keeping theirs.

Then there was the other parents. They had named their children Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo and Artemis (twin brother and sister), Hermes, Dionysus and Athena.

Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite, although it was not a happy marriage. She had been forced to wed him because her family had apparently threatened to disown her and cut off all money ties if she didn't. Then entire town knew that the ugly mechanic shop owner, Hephaestus, was in love with the beautiful prom queen Aphrodite. For a time people had thought she loved him back. But when he proposed, she had said no and her family had been in an uproar, saying it wasn't proper. They had forced her to marry the man and now everyone knew there was no love lost between them anymore.

Aphrodite had cheated on Hephaestus pretty much as soon as she got back from the honeymoon. Everyone had expected it of her, and when she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Piper about a year later people swore that no matter how much the couple claimed she was both of theirs, the true father was a famous actor.

The big surprise however, had been when Esperanza Valdez had given birth to a baby boy with dark curls and the same eyes as his father- Hephaestus the mechanic- and called him Leo.

Leo's mother had died when he was 5 in a workshop fire and only then did he go to live with his father and Aphrodite. He and Piper were supposedly half siblings and they definitely acted like it. Despite the rumours about their family, they worked to prove that even if they weren't related by blood, they were still brother and sister.

These days everyone knew Aphrodite ran around with Ares, a once famous boxer. Now he was just the coach of the boys sports teams. A has been with a temper problem and father to the biggest girl bully in Half-Blood High, Clarisse La Rue.

Apollo and Artemis were twin brother and sister and had never gotten along. Artemis was the headmistress at an all girl's school called Hunter's Vow and had dated one guy back in high school when she was 17 named Orion. But apparently her brother hadn't liked him and driven him off, so they had never gotten married. Ever since no boy had ever been in Artemis's life- so of course, rumours circulated that she was a lesbian to scared to come out of the closet.

Apollo was the complete opposite. He owned a fancy car dealership- he sold convertibles, Ferrari's, Porsche's... you name it. He was attractive for an older guy, he looked not a day over 20, and was the definition of golden boy. Golden hair, bright blue eyes, white perfect teeth... Apollo was every girl's old-man-fantasy. He was also known for being a hit with the ladies, going from girl to girl, never settling down. If Zeus hadn't been in town, Apollo definitely would have had the title of womanizer.

Hermes had been Apollo's best friend in school and still was today. He married May and had Luke two years later. Their house was a happy one, but the mystery of Luke's mom was just that- a mystery. She had had a nervous breakdown and never really recovered. Now she went to visit a psychiatrist in a mental hospital every other day and had to be taken special care of. But Hermes, Luke's dad, really loved her. Annabeth knew that much.

Although Luke seemed to hold this ever present grudge against his father- not that Annabeth knew why. She had asked him about it once but he had said it was nothing and his tone had been the only warning Annabeth needed to back off.

Then there was Dionysus. A boozer, he was barely ever drunk. Yet somehow he owned a psychiatrist facility- apparently he was good at getting inside people's heads and helping them. He actually owned the facility May went to.

Yet for the last 5 years he had been the principal of Half-Blood High, something Annabeth didn't understand because he seemed to absolutely hate the kids. All of them. And he always got their names wrong. She had heard he was doing it for his father, trying to learn how to be responsible and maybe to help with his drinking problem, but she wasn't sure if she believed it. Why would he agree to do something he hated just for his dad?

And Athena, well. Annabeth's mother had undoubtedly been the smartest one in that group of friends. Always making the smart decision, thinking things through. She didn't date many boys and had always absolutely loathed Poseidon. But she had met Annabeth's dad, Frederick, at the University she went to to help with her writing. She had helped him get through his classes and in that time they had fallen in love.

It was a romantic story, really it was. Annabeth just wished she could have had the chance to know the woman her father had fallen in love with, because the one who was her mother couldn't possibly be the same one.

Her mother pushed Annabeth in her studies, hard. She wanted Annabeth to be a lawyer, a doctor, something that paid well. While she herself was a writer, Athena would accept nothing but the best job choices from her daughter. There was no mother daughter bond, no special moments talking about boys, or watching movies. Everything was about school or the future. Athena didn't seem to care about much else.

So those were the children that the old friends from high school had had. All named after Olympian Greek gods, all very rich and well known. In this town they practically were gods, the lot of them.

They had all been friends through high school. All but Poseidon and Athena who had never got along. Oh! and Ares and Hephaestus had never exactly been the best of friends.

Annabeth had learned all of this from research done last night, asking Thalia many questions, her own knowledge of her parents and their histories.

Now on to the current generation.

Annabeth had met Luke, Thalia and Grover when they were kids. They had been the best of friends, protecting each other, going places together and making it through life day to day, side by side.

Then they had gone to school.

Nothing had really changed after three years of school, but in their fourth year Luke started being... meaner, Annabeth supposed, to Grover. At first it was just casual snide comments, maybe some hurtful jokes. But then those jokes became serious and Grover started to feel hurt. They would be about his clumsiness, or how he never took part in extracurricular sports and the things other guys did.

Then, in fifth grade, everything changed.

It had been a stupid idea of Luke's. He wanted to break into the principal's office and steal the school keys for a party that night. He had convinced Thalia and Annabeth to be lookouts while he and Grover stole the keys.

They had all stupidly agreed.

It had been Grover's fault that they got caught, nobody could deny that. But Luke... Luke had also played a part in it.

Grover was the one who would actually go in and take the keys. Luke was supposed to be the one who stuck stickers over the security cameras to make sure none of them were seen.

But Luke, being reckless and cocky, hadn't done that. He had changed his mind and gone in with Grover, trying to speed things up.

The principal had called them into his office the last period of the day, showing them the footage. The fact that Annabeth hadn't done anything and her mother's influence made her get off easy - at school. She only had detention for a week and had to help clean the cafeteria for the next two. At home her mother had yelled at her for hours, her father had grounded her and told her how disappointed he was, and she had been sent to bed without dinner and with absolutely no use of electronics.

Luke had been suspended for two weeks and had gotten detention for three after that. The principal had been very strict.

And Thalia... she had gotten worst of all. Because Thalia had actually done the lying to anybody who came past the doors, and had actually made sure a teacher didn't go in the office, she had been suspended for one week. But when her father had heard about it he had gone straight to the principal and angrily demanded his daughter be let off the hook.

It hadn't helped. In fact it had made things worse. Thalia had been expelled because of Zeus's actions. He had tried to help but Thalia told Annabeth she wished he had just left it alone.

Thankfully, because Zeus was sick of hiring a home-teacher, had lot's of money, and Dionysus was easy to sway, Thalia had been allowed back in her twelth year to Half-Blood High. After 7 years she had finally come back.

Annabeth had missed her. And, she knew, so had Luke.

And Grover? Grover had only gotten detention for a week- but that was because he had ratted out Luke, saying it had been his idea.

After that Luke hadn't talked to him again. And, assuming that Luke was right and not wanting to lose his friendship, neither had Thalia or Annabeth.

So now there were two groups, in Annabeth's mind. Luke's, which contained her, Thalia, Jason, Piper and Leo, and Percy's. Percy's group had in it Grover, Grover's girlfriend Juniper, Nico, Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang.

The popular and the rich vs the unpopular and the poor.

Luke had decided years ago who got to hang out in their group. Those were the kids who were actually pretty cool, but just hadn't made it.

Annabeth still thought of Grover sometimes. She missed his friendship, his nervousness that she had always found cute. The way he always had some advice, despite the fact that he usually had no idea what was going on. He had been her only friend who hadn't been born into a family with tonnes of money and she had always found him... refreshing.

But there was no point in thinking of or missing Grover. He had betrayed them, or so Luke had told Annabeth hundreds of times. He wasn't their friend anymore.

So he had been completely cut out of their lives. They had ignored him and after a couple of days Grover had gotten the message and went to hang out with other people. And now, apparently after Percy had moved here from New York a year ago when his mother married Paul Blofis, he was best friends with Percy Jackson.

That was a hell of a coincidence.

That day when Luke came to pick her up for school Annabeth was in a good mood. Proud of herself, she figured she had Percy all figured out. He was obviously jealous of Luke and everything he had. Money, brains, physical prowess... her.

Because that's what it was, Annabeth reasoned in her head. It had to be. Percy must have a crush on her. Either that or he legitimately hated her and that was obviously wrong.

"Hey Annabeth," Luke had said carefully.

"Hey Luke." She replied easily, sliding into the passenger seat of his red convertible and leaning over to peck him on the lips. "How was your night?"

"Fine," he replied in surprise. "Got finished that homework I had to do."

"Oh yeah," Annabeth said. "You know you could have invited me over and I would've helped."

"Right," Luke laughed. "Remember I'm in the grade above you Annabeth, I doubt you'd be able to understand what we're learning."

She paused but then brushed off the comment. Luke obviously didn't realize he had just insulted her. "Sure, anyways my night was great."

"That's good," Luke said not looking at her, turning into the school car park. "Look, I gotta park. You're okay if I drop you off at the door, right?"

"Oh," Annabeth said in surprise, her good mood finally ebbing away. "Yeah, sure. That's fine."

He was being considerate and polite, sparing her a longer walk, Annabeth told herself. Treating her like a lady should be treated.

He pulled up to the sidewalk and waited for her to open her door and get out before shifting into drive. "Oh and Annabeth!" He called out after her.

She turned around. "Yeah?" She called back.

He grinned at her, winking. "You look nice today!"

Her stomach fluttered and she smiled back at him, adjusting the strap of her purse before turning and heading inside.

He was such a great boyfriend, she sighed happily. Why would she ever doubt that, even for a moment?

She smiled and mentally shoved all thoughts of a raven haired boy out of her mind. She had Luke, that was all she wanted.

Right?

oooOOOooo

That day went by fast and before Annabeth knew it school had ended and it was Friday night.

Friday. Friday was tutoring day. Her guilty secret,

Every Friday Luke drove off from school to head home to take a nap before whatever party was on tonight. Annabeth always rejected his offer to give her a ride home, telling him she needed to finish this week's homework.

Which wasn't true. When she had homework she did it at home. What she really did every Friday was head to the tutoring center.

Annabeth was the best tutor in the school. She really was. She understood school, all classes came easily to her, and with Chiron as her history teacher she could always go to him if she didn't understand anything.

Chiron was the smartest and best recommended teacher at this school. He taught history, specializing on Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, although he knew pretty much everything about every other class as well. Annabeth was sure if he could, the school would make him their one and only teacher for all lessons.

Chiron was the reason Annabeth knew how to tutor so well. He was an amazing teacher, always patient and always knowing how to teach any student when they needed it. Special skills, special assignments for that one person who couldn't read right? Chiron knew how to get them to memorize what they needed to know by telling them in that gentle way he had.

Annabeth always made sure to try and do the same with the students she tutored.

Thalia knew about her tutoring, but that was about it. She tried not to spread it around. People already knew she was smart, some even calling her a nerd, she didn't need to add tutor to her nerdy list of things about her.

Plus Luke wouldn't understand and would try to get her to skip sessions, or just quit. Annabeth didn't want that to happen, tutoring was one place where she was comfortable and secure. The one place she knew what she needed to do and felt... not quite powerful, but close.

Although that night all of that changed.

She was talking to Glenda, another tutor from freshman year, when he walked through the door.

She noticed the moment he entered the room. She didn't know how, but she did, and when she turned around her mouth fell open in shock.

What was Percy Jackson doing in the tutor center? Was he lost?

She watched him go up to David, speaking quietly and low, before she saw David point over to her and saw Percy's eyes move to meet hers.

Oh gods, she couldn't help but think as a sudden notion struck her. _Please no, please, oh gods_...

"Hey Annabeth," David walked up to her, Percy following close behind. "Percy here needs a tutor. The best one we got. You up for it?"

She glanced back at Percy, noticing that he didn't exactly look thrilled by the idea but wasn't protesting against it. "Really? You need a tutor?"

He nodded. "I do."

She looked back at David. "Isn't there someone else? Glenda here-"

"Oh no," Glenda held up her hands. "My plate's full."

David grinned. "Glenda can't. Neither can I, before you ask."

Annabeth sighed. "Jimmy? Liam? Amanda?"

David shook his head. "Jimmy has too many nights full with his band practice he can hardly fit in time for the kids he has. Liam is too busy with rugby and Amanda's on holiday for the rest of the week."

"So ask her when she gets back." Annabeth suggested.

"Look," Percy said, interrupting whatever David had been about to say. "I really need help now. I have a lot of tests coming up and my mom's already busy enough without having to help me with school..." He trailed off but then spoke again. "I would really appreciate it if you could help me out. Apparently you're the best tutor here."

Annabeth met her eyes and saw nothing but honesty in them. She spoke without thinking. "Okay."

Surprise appeared on both David and Percy's faces. "Really?" David asked.

She cringed but nodded, not willing to go back on her word. "Fine. But I name when and where, got it?"

Percy nodded. "Sure thing, Wisegirl."

"_Wisegirl_?"Annabeth demanded.

Percy grinned. "Your new nickname."

She shook her head. "Don't call me that."

His grin grew as he shook his head. "Its stays. Wisegirl."

David and Glenda laughed. "I like it," she said. "It suits you."

Percy nodded. "It does. But only I get to call her that."

"Oh?" David asked before Annabeth could. "Why's that?"

"Well she is my tutor. I have certain privileges."

"Okay," she interrupted them as David was about to speak. "I am still here, remember?"

"Of course, Wisegirl, how could we forget?" Percy asked her innocently.

She narrowed her eyes at him, albeit she was biting back a smile. "I swear-"

"Ohh, swearing in school." Percy shook his head. "And they let you tutor here..."

Now David and Glenda were full out laughing. "We'll leave you two to get started," David said. "Have fun."

"Traitor," Annabeth muttered as she and Percy were left alone.

"So," he said, suddenly serious. "When do we start?"

"Well what do you need tutoring in?" Annabeth asked him.

He thought for a second. "Math," he finally decided.

She let out a breath. "Okay. Well I'm pretty good at math, so that shouldn't be too hard. I know you guys have a test this Thursday so how about we meet Monday after school somewhere?"

"Sure, sounds good," Percy said, picking up his bag which he had let drop to the ground. "Tell me when and where and I'll meet you then."

She raised her eyebrow. "How will I do that?"

Percy raised his back at her. "Tell me at school Monday." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But," Annabeth started but stopped. That would require talking to Percy publicly and that was something she didn't want to do. Luke might hear. "I'll just text you, okay?"

He shook his head. "That won't work. I don't have a cellphone."

She looked at him in disbelief. "You don't have a cellphone?"

He shrugged. "My mom doesn't want me to have one."

"So that's it? You just don't?"

"Yeah," he said. "Anyone I need to call I can call from home. So that won't work."

Annabeth was quiet a moment, taking that in. Either Percy was really close with his mom and didn't mind the fact that he was the only kid in the entire highschool without a cellular phone or he was just friendless and didn't need one.

And somehow, despite what everybody else said, Annabeth didn't think it was the latter.

"I'll find a way," she said. "Just be ready."

"Sure," he replied. "Oh, and maybe you should be ready too. Because I also need help in English and History."

She rolled her eyes. Great. "Fine."

He grinned at her one last time. "See you around, Wisegirl."

Annabeth didn't know why but the words sent a course of electricity through her.

"See you," she murmured to herself.

oooOOOooo


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter! The story line will become a bit more dramatic starting next chapter!**

oooOOOooo

Annabeth woke up at the insistent sound of her alarm clock and slammed her hand down onto the button, effectively silencing it.

6:00 am blinked at her in bright red letters.

She groaned but rolled over, stretching as she sat up. Slowly she got up, brushed her teeth and hair, put the latter up in a ponytail, changed into a sports tank top and shorts, and put on her sneakers.

Time to run.

She did it every Sunday. She ran as far as she could for as long as she could once a week in the morning. It was her ritual and Annabeth enjoyed it if she was being honest with herself. It gave her some spare time alone, a chance to clear her head.

She grabbed her sweater and zipped it up, heading out of her room, down the stairs and out the door, careful not to wake either of her parents.

The fresh morning air hit her like a slap to the face and Annabeth groaned again as she stretched her arms out above her head, satisfied as her muscles popped and shifted.

Then she started to run.

Annabeth had been doing this for almost a month now, since second semester had started. Since... things had started getting to be stressful.

At home life was fine- as normal as it had always been. At school things were... changing. Something was different this semester, she wasn't sure what. Apart from the fact she had realized there was a kid in the school named Percy Jackson, nothing obvious had changed.

Yet there was something. Something about Luke, Annabeth thought. He was avoiding her more, or snapping at her when he had no reason to. Thalia was always there with them so it never got too bad but... Annabeth was getting sick of it.

He must be having problems at home, she told herself. His mom or his dad. Maybe he was worried about something at school.

She couldn't think of any other possibilities.

See? Most people thought about their problems in the shower, or before they went to sleep.

Annabeth figured them out while she was running. The soothing constant thud of her feet on the ground was soothing.

Annabeth and her family lived just on the edge of town. About a mile away from the outskirts of Rivers, they had all the privacy they needed and also a handy closeness to people.

She would give Luke space, she thought. He would talk to her when he was ready and if she tried to pressure him into it, or ask herself, he would act even worse. If, and only if, he was ready to talk he would come to her and she would be there. If not Annabeth would go on like nothing was out of the ordinary.

She smiled, happy to have found a solution and ignoring the annoying insistent voice in her head that said 'as Luke's girlfriend, that was the last thing she should be doing. He should be coming to her and talking it out with her, no matter what it was.'

But she ignored it like she always did and took a deep breath, upping her pace to a slightly faster jog.

After about ten minutes she was on the edge of town and decided to keep going, straying from her usual route. She felt energetic this morning and wasn't quite ready to go home. So she turned onto a back road and kept going.

She regretted her decision not even a minute later when a figure appeared in front of her in an orange sweater and sweats.

What was he doing, stalking her now? Annabeth thought in annoyance at the sight of the now familiar raven hair.

She slowed a bit, debating whether or not to just turn back around, before rolling her eyes.

Screw it, she thought. I'll have to talk to him sometime.

So she ran faster, catching up to him and slowing to keep pace.

"Hey!" She called when she was just feet behind him.

Percy skid to a halt suddenly, stopping in his tracks and turning around with a surprised look on his face.

Unfortunately Annabeth, caught of guard by his sudden halt, ungracefully ran into him.

She only had a moment to think how hard and defined his chest was before she stepped back, pushing away her stupid thoughts.

"Hey," Percy said to her in clear surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Annabeth looked at him patronizingly. "Running, what does it look like?"

Percy's mouth twitched and drew Annabeth's attention, once again, to his lips. "No," he said, breaking her out of her reverie. "I haven't seen you here before. Is this your usual route?"

She shook her head, cursing her bad luck. Of course today, the one day she strayed from her routine, she (literally) ran into Percy.

The Fates had a weird sense of humour.

"No, it's not," she said after a second when she looked up to see his eyes staring at her expectantly. "I just felt like running more today, that's all."

Percy nodded. "Right."

An awkward pause settled over them and Annabeth realized that she and Percy had absolutely nothing to talk about. She knew nothing about him and he knew less about her.

"Well..."

"It's good I saw you, actually," Annabeth interrupted suddenly. "I have a place for us to meet tomorrow. At the docks by the lake, 7:00 am sharp."

There was a lake just behind some houses outside of Rivers with docks that Annabeth thought would be secluded enough. It must have had a name once, the lake, but people had forgotten it over the years. Now they just called it the lake, or the canoe lake because that was what most people did there were picnic tables where Annabeth and Percy could work and at 7:00 in the morning on a Monday Annabeth was sure they wouldn't be seen.

Percy did a double take. "7?" He asked her, incredulous. "I thought we were meeting after school. What human being gets up at _7:00_?"

Annabeth pursed her lips, staring him down even though he was almost a head taller than her. "I can't do it after school, too risky. People could see us. 7:00 at the docks, take it or leave it."

She continued to look at him, watching as Percy thought it over before he sighed. "Fine," he muttered. 7

She nodded. "Good. Now I got to go. See you tomorrow," Annabeth took a step before turning around. "And don't be late!" She called before turning back around and running away, leaving Percy behind her.

oooOOOooo

"You're late," were her first words to him the next morning.

Percy frowned down at her, his arms behind his back. Sitting on a picnic table with an open notebook and a textbook in front of her, Annabeth still looked imposing. Her hair was pushed back into a braid with a classic white headband tucked into some strands and behind her ears. She wore a red cashmere sweater that sat lightly on the sides of her shoulders and white jeans, along with brown ankle boots.

She raised her eyes to take him in after she spoke, seeing his low slung jeans, usual sneakers and baggy blue sweater. Even in that she found him attractive and coughed, looking back down at the textbook, eyes taking in the number problems on the page.

He cleared his throat and sat across from her. "Sorry," he said. "My mom held me up."

Annabeth glanced up at him from under her eyelashes. "Okay," she said simply when he didn't explain further.

She opened her mouth to say something else, finally looking up to meet his eyes dead on, but before she could he pulled his arms out from behind his back.

Her mouth fell open for a second before she snapped it closed, looking back to his eyes. "Flowers?" She asked him, nodding at the bouquet he held out to her. "What is this, your attempt at courting me?"

Percy smiled and Annabeth's breath flew out of her at the sight. She had never seen a real Percy Jackson smile before and only now that she had did she realize he must have been more popular than she had realized.

She could fall in love with that smile; and she probably wasn't the only one.

She froze at the thought she had just had. What was she thinking?

"No," Percy answered her, interrupting her thoughts. "It's just... I realize you don't have to do this. You're really helping me out, and I know that you don't want to." Percy shrugged, scratching the back of his neck again. "I guess this is my way of saying thanks."

Annabeth looked back at the flowers and felt a small, genuine smile lift her lips and a rush go through her. She was really and truly touched by the gesture, most guys wouldn't even think of it, nevermind go through with the action.

It was a bouquet of gladiolus flowers, with a few violets spread throughout and a single, white orchid in the center.

"How did you know gladioli's are my favourite?" Annabeth asked him, eyebrow raised.

Was she mistaken or was that a slight blush that graced Percy's cheeks at her words. Again he reached to scratch the back of his neck nervously.

"I didn't, actually. I was getting my mom flowers for Mothers Day last year and you were there too, shopping for your mom I guess. You bought some of those flowers and I figured you must like them well enough to give them to your mom."

"And you remembered that?" Annabeth asked, trying to think back to that day. She hadn't realized a boy she had gone to school with had been there in that flower shop with her.

Had Percy known who she was back then, or had he only put it together that the girl had been her since their meeting the other day?

He must have known, Annabeth realized. She was one of the most known people in the school. But if that was the case Percy had known her since he had moved here, while Annabeth had only realized who he was this week.

Something almost like guilt or regret churned in her stomach.

"Well yeah I remembered." Percy said. "It's not a big deal."

Annabeth nodded, reaching over to take them and bring them closer, another small smile touching her lips.

"So you like them?" Percy asked her.

"Gladioli's are my mom's favourite flower," Annabeth murmured in reply after a second. "They represent strength of character, did you know that?" She didn't look up to see him shaking his head. "I figured that was a good enough meaning as any, at least it wasn't a pathetic, romantic thing or something depressing like grief for marigold's. So I decided that they were my favourite flower too."

Percy grinned when she looked up. "Good. I'm glad I didn't get the marigolds then."

Annabeth's mouth twitched. "So why the violets and orchid?" She asked him.

He smiled. "My mom's favourite flower's are violets," he said. "She insisted I put some in."

Annabeth nodded, "good choice." She said. "Violet's represent faithfulness."

A strange look crossed over Percy's face at her words and she felt the need to change the subject. "And the orchid?"

He shrugged, forgetting whatever he had been thinking of and looked suddenly bashful. "That was me," he said. "I thought it looked nice."

Annabeth bit her lip, feeling her stomach flip flop.

"What do orchids mean?" Percy asked her.

She felt a sudden blush on her cheeks (although she had no idea why) and smothered the uncalled for embarrassment. "Love and beauty," she said quietly.

"Oh," Percy said.

She nodded. "Mmhmm," she hummed, not wanting to say anything and looking resolutely down at the flowers on her lap.

They were gorgeous together she acknowledged.

"So," Percy's voice cut through the awkward silence and Annabeth looked up. "You just memorize the meanings of flowers for what reason?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, I found it interesting. My brain remembers random facts like that."

Percy nodded. "Maybe you could help me do the same," he said, nodding to the text book in front of her. "Cause I really need some help. I'm telling you now, I can be pretty hopeless at school."

She smiled and set the bouquet beside her. "Don't worry, I have experience in tutoring kids. I find they're usually better than they think."

Percy returned her smile and Annabeth realized this was the first moment they had talked and actually been nice to one another. It felt nice, in a way. Actually it felt really nice. Annabeth hadn't spent time like this, without drama, family and image concerns or popularity coming into play.

She hadn't just gotten to act like her with someone in months. Maybe even years.

She looked at him covertly. Percy really _was_ different, she thought. There was something about him...

She slid the textbook over to him and pointed to the questions she had circled. "Okay, here's the ones I want you to try first..."

oooOOOooo

"Gods, is you're brain full of seaweed?" Annabeth snapped at him after 45 minutes of 'tutoring.'

More like extreme torture for the both of them.

The nice moment between the two had ended the moment Percy had slid over his first batch of answers to Annabeth.

He had gotten 3 out of 15 right, and even then his work was hardly readable. So Annabeth had made him redo them, trying to show him where he went wrong and what steps he should take to solve the division questions properly. After ten minutes of leaning over his shoulder Percy had snapped at her- and snapped his pencil.

"Gods, give me a break!" He said crossly. "You try spending an hour doing nothing but math when you're dyslexic and ADHD."

Annabeth bit back a retort, stopping herself when surprise filled her.

Percy was dyslexic and ADHD? She hadn't known that.

"I didn't know that," she told him after a second, speaking quietly.

"Yeah well, it's not something people would really want spread around. No need to make people think I'm stupider than I already am." Percy said with a note of bitterness Annabeth had never heard in his voice before.

She didn't like it, not at all.

"Hey," she said, suddenly sympathetic and having the crazy need to make him feel better. She didn't like seeing him like that, angry and sad. It didn't suit him. If Luke were here he would probably make fun of Luke, and maybe Annabeth would have laughed right along with him. But when it was just her and Percy she could act like herself, not needing to put up a mean front.

Although since she had gone right along with his bullying more than once, Annabeth was starting to wonder whether it was all an act anymore. Maybe it was who she was now.

She shook the thoughts away and reached across the table, taking his hand and having to bite back a gasp at the course of... something, that Annabeth felt rush through her at the contact. Percy's eyes shot up to meet hers at the sudden touch and she pulled it back but still leaned forwards, talking quiet. "You're not stupid, I can see that after just half an hour here." She said. "I will be able to help you and it'll eventually get easier." She hesitated a second before adding, "I promise."

He stared at her and she wondered if he had felt it too, the rush of electricity at their touch. He looked away, took a deep breath and then nodded. "Okay." He said, more calm than before.

Annabeth smiled a bit. "Okay." She handed him another pencil. "C'mon, work on these ones."

By 8:00 Percy's score had improved from 3 out of 15 questions right to 11, all in the time of an hour. He had still been disappointed but Annabeth had said it was a good thing, he wouldn't be perfect after a single session.

"So," She said, sliding the textbook back into her book bag and asking, "where do you want to meet next?"

He shrugged. "I'm pretty much open to anywhere."

"Okay," Annabeth said. "Someplace after school tomorrow?"

She didn't know why, but she was looking forward to their next session, despite how... uncommon this one had been. She felt comfortable and alive and Annabeth relished the feeling.

He shook his head. "Can't. I have swim practice tomorrow."

"Swim practice?" She asked him. "What- you're on the swim team?"

Percy raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah... why is that so hard to believe."

Percy Jackson a jock. Huh. Who would've guessed it?

She was more surprised because he didn't hang out with Luke. All the sport's guys tended to stick together, throwing stupid parties with alcohol, pranking poor kids, getting together with cheerleaders.

She was surprised because Percy had never hung out with the rest of the popular and elite. Luke had always told her swimming shouldn't even be considered a sport so she had never gone to any meets or anything to cheer the teams on. In fact, whenever the team was mentioned she had pretty much drowned out whatever was being said, probably why she hadn't known Percy was on the team in the first place.

"It's not," she said too quickly. "I mean, it makes sense. Are you a good swimmer?" She resisted the urge to cringe at her rushed words.

Percy didn't seem to notice anything though. "I'm okay I guess," he shrugged modestly. "But you should see some of the other guys."

She nodded absently, still trying to figure out how in such a small town she had never come across Percy before if he was a sporty guy, even if he had only moved here a year ago. And she was trying to figure out what he and Luke's problem was- Annabeth found they were sorta similar.

Although she was sure if she told either one of them that she would receive a green eyed glare and be ignored by a blue eyed boy.

"Right," she said nodding. "So you're a water guy. I guess Seaweed Brain is more fitting than I thought."

Percy frowned. "Really? Is that necessary?"

She grinned at him. "Is Wise Girl?"

He paused before nodding. "Point taken. The nicknames stay."

"Okay," Annabeth said before switching back to their next tutoring session. "Well what about Wednesday?"

Percy nodded. "Wednesday works."

"Okay." Annabeth gathered all of her stuff and stood up suddenly, causing Percy to look surprised. "I'll figure out when and where. See you around, Seaweed Brain."

She walked a couple of steps before turning back. "Thanks for the flowers!"

He turned around to look at her but she only met his eyes for a second before spinning around and practically running away.

Why was it, Annabeth pondered later in math, that a single hour with Percy left her feeling more charged and alive than she had ever felt with Luke?

She dreaded the answer.

oooOOOooo


	4. Chapter 4

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter! I know it's been a long time coming.**

**Love you all!**

**Percyjacksonfan3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

oooOOOooo

"What are you doing with Percy?"

Thalia's voice caused Annabeth to raise her eyes from the book she was reading up to meet the blue ones staring back at her. They were in the cafeteria, surrounded by the rest of the Half-Blood High students and Annabeth was just finishing up the chapter in her book- To Kill a Mockingbird.

Cliché, she knew, to read a book that was being read in the school E.L.A course. But she liked it.

At Thalia's words her eyes rose and she marked her place and closed her book. "What?" She said in surprise, trying to smother the nervous flicker in her stomach. "Percy Jackson?"

Thalia raised an eyebrow and stabbed her yogurt, not buying Annabeth's act for a second. "Spare me," Thalia said. "Cut the bullshit and tell me what you're doing with my cousin."

Annabeth sighed, looking around and making sure no one was listening to their conversation. "How did you know about that?"

Thalia's eyes widened before narrowing. "So there is something going on!" She said quietly.

"No, no, no!" Annabeth rushed. "It's nothing... like that. I'm tutoring him."

Surprise filled her best friend. "Tutoring?"

Annabeth nodded. "Tutoring."

"_Just_ tutoring?" Thalia asked.

Annabeth smiled. "Cross my heart and hope to die. What else would I be doing with him?"

A knowing glint entered Thalia's eyes but she shook her head. "Nothing. Just tutoring."

Annabeth nodded. "So how did you find out?" Annabeth asked her. "Does anyone else know?"

Thalia shrugged. "He told me."

Annabeth spluttered. "He told you?"

"Calm down Annabeth," Thalia said. "He is my cousin, remember?"

"He's not supposed to be telling anybody!" Annabeth hissed, glancing over to Percy quickly.

He was sitting with a group of kids, his usual friends. Hazel, Frank, Nico, Grover... but Annabeth noticed someone new. A red head with green eyes and paint on her jeans.

"Who's the new girl?" Annabeth asked, forgetting her anger.

"What?" Thalia asked following her eyes. "Rachel?"

_Rachel_. What a bitchy name.

"Who?"

"Rachel Dare."

Annabeth watched them, saw as Percy said something that made the group laugh- Rachel especially. Gods, Annabeth could hear her fake laughter from here. Before she looked away, she saw Nico nudge Percy, glancing back at Annabeth.

Her eyes shot away, back to Thalia, but she felt Percy's eyes on her.

"Who the Hades is Rachel?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia grinned at the use of her uncle's name. "She's a new kid," Thalia said. "Her family's super rich and moved from New York, trying to get away from the big city. They thought it would be good for their daughter to move somewhere small and since Rachel and Percy went to the same school for like a month or something before he got expelled and moved here, they figured it would be good for her to know someone."

"Wait. So Percy knows Rachel from before he came here?"

Thalia nodded. "Yeah... what's the big deal?"

Irritation filled Annabeth but she had no idea why. "Nothing," she said tightly after a second. "It would just be nice if all these weirdoes from New York stopped coming here."

Thalia's eyes glanced up to see someone behind her and when Annabeth turned around she saw Percy, Nico and Rachel standing behind them, lunch trays in hand, obviously on their way to throw out their trash. Judging by their looks they heard the last sentence Annabeth had spoken crystal clear.

She saw surprise on Rachel's face, followed by something almost- almost like pity. Annabeth's irritation at the girl rose at that. Who was Rachel to feel pity for her? She saw Nico roll his eyes and glance at Percy.

She followed the pale boy's eyes and felt the flutter in her stomach she got whenever she looked at Percy. They stared into each other's eyes for perhaps a second too long and she felt her stomach twist uncomfortably. Percy's eyes bored into hers and she saw something flicker in his, disappointment, maybe, or- well it might have even been hurt.

'Nice,' his eyes seemed to be saying. 'Just when I thought you were a better person.'

She bit her lip and he looked away. "C'mon," he muttered to the others.

They left without another word and Annabeth turned back to Thalia, angrier than she had been before.

She hadn't meant it like that, really she hadn't. She had been talking about Rachel. Not Percy.

But he had obviously taken her words to include him, and maybe all of New Yorkers in general. Annabeth had pretty much just insulted his home city.

Voices suddenly filled the cafeteria and Annabeth raised her eyes to see Luke, Ethan and a few of the other guys enter the food court from their soccer practice. They were all wearing their Letterman jackets, joking and shoving, laughing together. They were all grinning and Luke was leading the pack.

When suddenly his group came face to face with Percy's.

The two boys stared at each other for a second, tension filling the suddenly quiet cafeteria.

So when Percy sighed, it was perfectly audible to everybody. Annabeth felt relief when he looked away and moved to go around Luke, Nico taking a step to follow.

But Luke's arm shot out to stop him.

"Who's this," he asked, giving Rachel an appraising look but obviously speaking to Percy. "Finally get yourself a piece of ass, man?"

Percy tensed noticeably, even from where Annabeth sat she saw it and she stared at the boys. Revulsion filled her at Luke's words and her stomach twisted at the thought that it might be true although she didn't know why.

She sat there, watching them, taking in every detail and movement.

Not saying a word.

"She _is_ fine," Luke continued. "I wouldn't mind tapping that."

Annabeth took a breath, noticing some people glancing her way. Luke, she decided was a real asshole when he wanted to be. For a second she felt disgust at his words.

"Move," Percy almost growled to her boyfriend.

Luke grinned, a mocking grin. "Why?"

"C'mon Percy," Nico said. "Let's go back-"

"That's right, bastard," Luke said still talking to Percy. "Better listen to your gay-"

Annabeth watched, as if in slow motion, as Percy's fist hit Luke's face. Dread filled her and her face drained of colour.

Oh my gods.

Luke stumbled back into the guys behind him, his hand reaching up to touch his probably broken nose. When it came away red coated his eyes shot to Percy's and they were filled with loathing.

"Oh, you'll pay for that pool boy."

"Luke."

Thalia's voice cut through the tension, stopping Percy as he opened his mouth to reply.

Annabeth glanced to where her friend had been sitting. She hadn't even noticed Thalia get up and walk over to where the guys and Rachel were. Now she watched as Thalia made her way over to Luke.

His eyes shot to hers, blue met blue, and Annabeth thought she saw some silent communication between them.

"Come on," Thalia said to him. "Let's go and clean your face." She cracked an obviously forced grin. "Or at least do the best we can. You didn't give us much to work with."

Some nervous laughs came from around the cafeteria and people around Annabeth relaxed as Luke shrugged off Ethan's steadying hands from his shoulders. "Right." He said.

Chatter slowly filled the silence but Annabeth still watched as Luke pointed a finger at Percy, with the hand that wasn't holding his bloody nose, and could hear him growl out, "watch your back, bastard."

Percy said nothing, just nodding at Thalia as she shot him a regretful glance over her shoulder as she and Luke left. The rest of the guys from the soccer team moved around Percy, Nico and Rachel.

"Annabeth?" Piper asked.

"Huh?" She said, looking at the younger girl.

Jason raised his eyebrows. "You gonna go check to see if he's alright."

Percy's fine, Annabeth thought after processing his words, and she almost said it too. He's the one who threw the punch, he won't be hurt.

Then her mind actually started working and she realized they were, obviously, talking about Luke. Her boyfriend. "Right," she said. "Can you guys throw out the rest of my lunch? I have a feeling this will take a while."

Piper nodded from beside her. "Of course."

"Thanks," Annabeth shot them a quick smile and then left, the forced grin falling from her face.

She hurried out the room and - of course- ran smack into someone else.

"Sorry-" she started to say, before she looked up and realized whose hands were on her arms, steadying her.

The sudden electricity she felt should have been her first clue.

She looked away from Percy's eyes. "Sorry," she muttered again.

His hands dropped. "It's fine," he said quietly.

She glanced up, her eyes getting caught in his. "Are you okay?" She couldn't help but blurt out.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm fine, Annabeth. We weird New York kids can handle worse things than Luke Castellan."

That reminded her. She had a boyfriend to tend to.

But her stomach twisted again at his words and she couldn't seem to look away from him, despite how bad she felt. And she saw his eyes soften slightly at something he must have seen in hers.

She didn't really want to suffer through Percy's gaze and cold voice anymore anyway. His eyes were making her feel even more guilty and worse than she already was.

Finally she noticed Nico standing a little behind Percy, jaw wide open, eyes surprised. She heard footsteps behind her and saw Rachel coming out of the girl's washroom.

The two girls stopped dead when they saw each other, appraising the other coolly.

Rachel cocked her head slightly before shaking it and moving to stand beside Percy. "Coming?" She asked him.

He watched Annabeth for a few seconds longer and she met his eyes, for some reason desperately wanting him to say no and stay with her.

"Yeah," he said instead, looking away from Annabeth to Rachel. "Let's go."

They walked back into the cafeteria without another word, brushing past Annabeth.

She stood there, not really thinking, for a few seconds. Trying to process.

And suddenly she just wanted to cry. Everything was falling apart.

But she didn't cry. Because she was a Chase, and, more than that, she was _Annabeth_ Chase. Instead she took a few deep breaths, and started walking to where she knew Thalia and Luke would be.

oooOOOooo

Her footsteps were the only sound as the gym door closed behind her, and she saw Luke sitting on the bleachers with Thalia standing in front of him, hands on her hips with a white bloodstained cloth in one of them. She was speaking furiously and he was listening, for once in his life. That was probably why neither of them noticed her.

"-don't know what the hell you were thinking! You know he's my cousin and he knows that you're my-"

"What the hell was that?!" Annabeth interrupted Thalia, causing both her and Luke to jump and stare at her, Thalia quickly stepping back from Luke. Annabeth moved to stand in front of her, staring at her boyfriend angrily.

"Annabeth-"

"What is it with you two?" She asked him furiously. "Why do you hate each other so much? Why didn't you just let him go when he tried to?"

Luke stared at her, anger crossing his face at her last words. "Gods, are you really that oblivious?" Luke snapped at her.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Why Jackson and I hate each other. Do you really not know? Or are you just trying to act stupid?" Luke snapped.

Anger flared. "Well it's not like anyone's ever told me anything about it!"

Luke's eyes narrowed. "Fine. I just thought maybe you would use your brain for once and stop thinking about yourself enough to notice other people and what goes on with them."

"Luke-" Thalia's voice cut in but Annabeth spoke over her once again.

"Oh? I'm the one who doesn't use their brain? How about you, purposely keeping Percy back from leaving and provoking him. Why do you have to be such a jackass-?"

Luke cut her off. "So it's my fault?" He asked. "Is that it, it's my fault and Percy just gets off scott free?"

"You could have walked away-"

"So could he!"

"He tried! You didn't let him!"

They stared at each other angrily, silence echoing around them. Thalia didn't say anything, just watched.

"Why do you care so much about Percy anyway?" Luke asked her. "Why are you being so nice to him?"

Annabeth almost cringed at his words. After a few weeks of tutoring she and Percy had grown... well not to be friends, exactly, but they were something. His marks were getting better steadily, although not in leaps and bounds. She saw new sides of him. They drank coffee together and once in a while he complained about school. She passed him the hallways and smiled now. He grinned back at her. Their eyes would meet occasionally. He and Annabeth had met up at the docks several times, at a park, the mall on a Sunday- a day that was for some reason never spent at the mall so Annabeth knew they were safe from being seen by fellow students. They joked and talked and even though it was never anything personal, Annabeth found herself trusting and opening up to him more and more.

She had a scary feeling that if he asked her anything, she would answer him without a seconds thought.

Tell him anything he wanted to know.

For a girl with secrets like hers, that was scary.

So yes. She cared about Percy. But nobody else needed to know that.

"I don't," she answered him. "I hardly know the guy. Luke, you're my boyfriend. I'm just worried about you."

Luke sighed at her and she saw something flicker in his eyes. "Well stop," he said. "I can handle myself."

She wanted to push the issue but decided it would be better to leave it, instead sighing and moving to sit beside him. Taking his hand she looked up and met his eyes, seeing them soften.

Thalia cleared her throat, reminding Annabeth she was here. "You know, I should get back. Annabeth, you can take care of Luke right?"

They both looked at her but she wasn't looking at them, a fact Annabeth frowned at before shrugging. She was probably just confused about the fight. Percy was her cousin after all, it made sense for Thalia to be confused as to who to take care of.

But if that was the case why had she immediately followed Luke?

"Yeah," Annabeth heard herself say. "I can take care of him."

Thalia nodded, handing Annabeth the white cloth. "I'll see you guys later."

"Thalia-" Luke said, and it sounded almost like he was sorry.

"No Luke," Thalia and him met eyes before she quickly looked away. "I'll catch you later, Annabeth."

And then she just... left.

When Annabeth looked up at Luke she saw him staring at where she had left with something very, incredibly sad in his eyes.

"Luke?" She asked him, almost timidly. "Are you okay?"

He looked down at her and sighed, all of the fight seeming to go out of him. "Not really."

"Well," Annabeth said slowly, not wanting to cause an argument. "You know I'm always here right?"

He smiled tiredly at her, although it looked scary with blood still on his face. "Thanks." He took a breath. "It's just things are so complicated right now..."

She nodded. "Your mom?"

He nodded. "And school and just- just everyone. My dad's been gone most of the time, but that's nothing unusual. My mom's struggling without him; Coach is giving the guys pressure in sports and Thalia..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "It's a mess."

"Thalia?" Annabeth asked, unaware of anything wrong with their best friend. "What about Thalia?"

Luke's eyes shot to hers for a second before he shrugged. "Nothing. Things are just hard for everyone right now, you know? I mean Thalia has those cousins of hers. Gods, Nico wouldn't be so bad, he may be weird but at least he stays out of everyone's way. But Percy? What is that guy's problem?"

"What does he do?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"It's nothing," Luke muttered. "I can handle it."

Annabeth opened her mouth, wanting to push the subject, but suddenly he stood up. "Look, I got to go. It's Friday, so you're staying after school right?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Actually could you give me a ride tonight?"

"Yeah," Luke said, surprised. "No problem. Just meet me in the parking lot."

She smiled. "Okay."

He grinned at her. "Alright then. See ya."

And then he just walked away. No kiss, not even on the cheek. He just walked away, leaving Annabeth to stare after him feeling confused and holding a bloody cloth.

oooOOOooo

Annabeth took a deep breath before knocking on the red door to the Jackson's house.

It was Friday. That meant tutoring. Right now, Percy was the only one she was tutoring since Will Solace finally picked up his math mark so she was here for their session today.

Unfortunately, the circumstances of today left Annabeth unsure where they stood. She was still his tutor, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't be all smiles and happy times when he saw her.

So what had she done?

The moment she gotten into Luke's car he had started driving, faster than usual.

"So why the change today?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "I just didn't need to stay tonight."

He nodded, almost to himself. "It's not because of me, is it? Or what happened today?"

She looked at him in surprise. In truth, it wasn't. She just needed to go home before heading to her tutoring session with Percy, since it was only 3:30 and they had arranged for her to go to his place at 4:00.

"No," she answered. "I know I don't need to worry about you. You can handle yourself."

It was a lie, but she figured it was what he wanted to hear.

However, when he answered he sounded almost disappointed.

"Right, yeah. Well that's good, I guess."

She had asked him about sports, he said they were going fine, just they had pressure to do well lately from the Coach.

Then she had asked what she had been meaning to ask for some time now. "Do you hang out with anyone from the swim team?"

He had tensed. "Yeah, sure. Most of the guys are cool. Why?"

She had shrugged, looking out the window. "Just wondering. I don't really know much about the team, ya know? And it's pretty much the only sport you don't mention."

He looked over at her, scrutinizing her. "Jackson's on the swim team," he said finally, a forced note of casualness in his tone.

"Really?" She had asked, pretending to be surprised. "Is he any good?"

Luke snorted. "You did not just ask me that."

"Well if he's on the team he has to at least be decent, right?" Annabeth asked him smoothly.

"I guess. But he's nothing special. I don't understand why everyone thinks he's so great. So he does one sport and happens to be good at it, it doesn't make him an all-star."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise at his mini outburst. "So he is good."

Luke scoffed. "He's okay."

Annabeth nodded. "Alright."

And they had said nothing more until she got out and gave him a quick kiss.

The first moment she got home she had headed to the kitchen. Despite how she had acted today she was actually quite shaken up by what had happened today. As far as she knew Percy and Luke had never come to physical blows before. And the way Luke hadn't just let Percy go... and when Percy had thrown that punch; well Annabeth wouldn't admit it to anyone else but when she had seen him do that the name on her lips hadn't been Luke.

It had been _Percy_.

And guilt had been eating away at her. She hadn't tried to stop Luke, hadn't defended Percy at all when Luke talked bad about him anymore. And that stupid, jealous comment about weird New Yorkers... Annabeth had experienced jealousy before. She felt it every time Luke talked to another girl in a way that he should reserve for her and her only. Jealousy was what she had felt when she saw Rachel, although it had been deeper than before, causing her to lash out.

What did that mean? Maybe she had been wrong in categorizing their relationship- because she couldn't deny that they did have some form of one. But what it was, well that was a completely different question. Friendship? Nothing romantic, no way. Annabeth had a boyfriend, Percy showed no interest in her whatsoever (so her former idea of what he wanted from her had been completely off base, she admitted it now) and now there was that girl, Rachel.

To Annabeth she seemed kind of like a skank, but whatever. Who was she to judge.

So she dumped off her bag and went to the kitchen, ignoring the guilt. She was trying to fix it and to do that... well she started to bake.

Now Annabeth knocked three times, shifting the materials in her arms to her hip as she raised her left hand.

A middle aged woman answered.

Annabeth had never actually met Percy's mom, despite living in such a small town. All she knew about the woman was from what Percy had told her and previous research. She liked to write, she had fallen in love with Poseidon, been left by him on the business trip, found out she was pregnant and found out Poseidon had gotten married to Amphitrite and had Triton months after she herself had Percy.

Thank gods Triton went to a different school, Boarding School. That would have caused a lot more problems. As it was, Poseidon and Amphitrite lived in Rivers as well.

Annabeth couldn't imagine the serious courage it took for Sally to come back here with Poseidon living not more than a few miles away with a wife of his own. Although it had been 17 years ago and Sally had married another man herself. So maybe things were okay.

Sally had dark brown, slightly wavy, hair. She was average height, had sparkling, happy brown eyes and something about her made Annabeth just want a hug.

"Hello Mrs. Jackson," Annabeth said, almost nervously. She really wanted Sally to like her, for some strange, unknown reason. "Umm... I'm Annabeth Chase, Percy's tutor?" She phrased it almost like a question. "I hope he told you, we have a tutoring session tonight."

Sally smiled at her and Annabeth found herself relaxing. "Call me Sally," the older woman requested. "Come on in, he told me about his tutoring. He's just in his room right now- hopefully cleaning it," Sally rolled her eyes and Annabeth found herself grinning as she stepped inside. "I'll just go get him, alright? Let me take your coat for you. Paul!"

"Yeah?" A man's voice called back from somewhere else in the house.

"Percy has a guest! Come entertain her while I go get him, will you?"

Annabeth looked around herself, curiously. Percy's front door led to a small hallway with a dark gray rug carpeting the floor. White trim on the walls, they were a tan colour- or at least the parts of the wall you could actually see were. The rest was covered with pictures. Pictures of Percy, of Sally and some other women. Places in New York, Paul, Sally and Paul, them on their wedding, a family shot of Percy.

Sally hung up her coat on a coat stand and left, just as a man around the same age as her with salt and pepper hair and warm inviting eyes appeared.

"You must be Annabeth," the man, whom Annabeth presumed to be Paul, said. "I'm Paul," he said sticking out his hand to shake.

Annabeth again shifted the things in her arms and shook it. "Hi Paul."

He grinned at her, leading her to the living room. "You and Percy'll be staying in his room I bet. He and Sally should be down right about-"

Steps came down the stairs on the side of the living room and Percy appeared, followed closely by Sally.

There was silence for a few seconds before Annabeth figured she should say something. "Hey."

A beat of silence. "Hi."

Annabeth met Percy's eyes before looking away, shifting from where she stood. It wasn't often that she couldn't find anything to say but now she deemed this encounter as extremely awkward.

"We can study in my room," Percy said.

Annabeth nodded. "Okay," she said, carefully stepping around Paul- shooting him a small smile as she did- and walked to the stairs. "Sounds good."

Sally cleared her throat. "Paul and I will be down here if you two need anything," she said warmly, smiling at Annabeth as she made her way down the stairs to sit on the couch.

She smiled back. It was reassuring to know Sally was here, even though Annabeth had just met the woman.

Percy nodded. "Come on," he said to her.

She followed him slowly up the stairs of the two story house. Passing more pictures of people. She saw a baby picture of Percy's and let a snort escape her at it.

He was cute, she decided. Sitting in a baby chair with food all over his clothes and beside his mouth, waving a spoon around. His eyes were just as green, yet less smoldering and piercing. Lighter and happier from the illusions of life children had in infancy. Dark hair, smiling face... Percy was definitely cute.

He looked back at her laugh and saw what she was staring at. She could swear he blushed. "Yeah," he said to her, scratching the back of his neck. "In my defense my mother hadn't taught me my table manners yet."

Annabeth let out a full out laugh at that. "I hope she improved on them, obviously they didn't come naturally."

Percy grinned at her. "I'd like to see a baby picture of you without one speck of food on your face. I'm pretty sure parents capture shots of their children when they're messy eaters to keep it as ammunition for future embarrassment."

"Right," Annabeth said nodding. "Sally has this on display for all of you girlfriend's to see when they come over."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."

Annabeth smiled at him, for some reason reassured by his words. "And for your information, my mother only let people take pictures of me when I was in pristine shape. She likes perfection. I don't know if I have one messy eater picture around."

She meant for the words to come out lightly but she thought Percy must have heard the carefully controlled emotion there. He didn't say anything though, instead focusing on opening the dark blue door they had stopped in front of.

Annabeth followed him carefully, trying to hide her curiosity. When she stepped in his room she turned in a full circle, taking in everything.

It reminded her of the ocean, in a way. Seashell picture frames on blue-green walls. Wooden floorboards. He had a bed pushed in one corner that had a green comforter on it, with matching pillows. There was candy wrappers, and clothes everywhere.

Annabeth hadn't known what to expect but she stepped in and realized it was all very... normal. For a teenage boy at least.

"So this is it," Percy said, walking over to stand beside his bed.

Annabeth nodded. "It's nice."

Percy's eyes shot to hers. "Well it's no penthouse," he said, slightly defensive. "But I don't need much."

Annabeth nodded. "Seriously. I like it."

And she did.

Percy met her eyes, studying her carefully. Annabeth shifted under his gaze, growing uncomfortable, and looked away.

It didn't help that meeting his eyes made her feel even worse about what happened today.

He seemed to be thinking the same thing because he looked away from her as well and only looked back when she stepped closer to him, handing him the tin of blue cookies she had made after school.

"I figured it was my turn to give gifts," she said, thinking back to the flowers from weeks ago and what had happened today.

He took the tin in surprise, opening it warily. When he saw the cookies he looked back up at her, his eyebrows raised in happy surprise. "Blue cookies."

She grinned. "You like things blue," she remembered from a past conversation. "And you always say chocolate chip cookies are your favourite."

"I hope you're a good baker," Percy said. "Otherwise you'll be forcing me to eat bad tasting cookies."

"It's chocolate chip cookies," Annabeth said, hurt. "I don't think anyone can mess that up."

"It's been done," Percy said, perfectly serious.

She grinned at him. "Well you don't have to eat them. It was just my way of... apologizing, I guess."

Percy's face was wiped of all traces of humor. "For Luke?"

She hesitated. "Partly. And because of me too."

He nodded, not saying anymore. "Well you really know the way to a man's heart. Cookies will get you there. Or at least to mine."

Annabeth pressed her lips together slightly, not sure if he heard the implications of his words. Instead of addressing it however, she changed the subject. "So are you okay?"

Percy looked over at her. "I'm the one who threw the punch and you're asking me if I'm okay?"

She held her head up a bit higher. "Yeah."

He shook his head at her but he was grinning a bit. "I'm fine. Sticks and stones right?"

Annabeth frowned. "He shouldn't have said any of that. Calling you a bastard-"

"I am a bastard."

The words hung in the air before Annabeth cleared her throat. "I don't care if you are," she said finally, meeting his eyes. "He shouldn't have called you one."

They stared at each other from across the room before Annabeth looked away. "And calling Nico gay, that was a low blow, even for Luke. I mean even if Nico was gay it's a stupid thing to say.

All of Luke's homophobic crap is just that- crap."

"It doesn't bother you?" Percy asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "Not a bit."

"So even if Nico was gay, you'd still be saying this?" Percy asked her.

She rolled her eyes. "Well yeah. I don't see what the big deal would be, as long as he didn't hit on any of the guys I have my eye on." Annabeth grinned. "Then we would have a problem."

Percy laughed happily. "Gods, he's so stupid," he said fondly, shaking his head.

Now Annabeth was confused. "Who?"

Percy just laughed. "Nothing."

Annabeth's eyes caught onto a picture before she could frown and question him further. "Hey!"

"What?" Percy said, watching as she moved to go and pick it up, studying it intently.

"Camp Jupiter, right?" Annabeth asked. "Now I know where that necklace is from, I have one somewhere..."

Percy smiled a bit. "Yeah, Camp Jupiter. I went there when I visited my dad every summer down here. You know it?"

Camp Jupiter was a summer camp some miles away from Rivers. It was kind of silly but the kids learned all about Greek/Roman gods and myths (hence the name) and did other fun activities. There was even fencing and wrestling, among other combat skills. All summer kids were encouraged to try challenges and participate in different activities. At the end of the year the campers all decided what the best thing that happened was, or the most impressive challenge.

Annabeth had been going to that Camp since she was seven. Most of the kids from around here went, like the Stolls, Katie, Clarisse, Silena, Beckendorf, Luke, Thalia and pretty much all the teenagers.

It sounded lame but really it was the only way for everyone to hang out together a lot in the summer. Annabeth had been a counselor there for the last several years, in charge of Cabin Six.

It was weird that she hadn't seen Percy around there. Then again, she had been pretty much ignorant of his existence before this month.

She smiled. "I've been at that Camp since I was seven years old."

Percy nodded. "I love it there. Outside of New York, it's my favourite place."

"Right," Annabeth grimaced and set the picture down. "Sorry about the New York comment today... I dunno why I said that."

Percy shrugged. "It's fine. I figured you didn't mean it. Not really."

"Still," Annabeth moved to sit down on the bed beside where he had taken a seat. She made sure to keep space between them though. A foot of empty space seemed enough. "Still." She repeated, unsure how to continue, how to explain everything she was thinking.

"Wise Girl," Percy said looking at her, "it's okay."

She let out a breath and nodded.

"Can I ask you something?" Percy asked abruptly.

She nodded. "Sure."

"Why do you stay with Luke?" Percy asked. "I mean... well, do you even like him?"

Annabeth tensed, immediately going on defense. "That's none of your-." She caught herself before she said something she'd regret, thinking to herself.

Would it really be so bad to tell someone? It was Percy. She could trust him.

"You don't have to answer," Percy said. "I was just, ya know, wondering."

"I don't know," she said after a few seconds.

"What?"

"I mean... why I stay with him. You have to understand, I've known Luke since I was seven years old. He's always been there for me, looking out for me. Him and Thalia were like parents to me when- when my parents weren't. And then as I got older... well Luke stopped feeling like a family member and I got the biggest crush on him. So then we started dating after I finally told him how I felt, he said we could try it out, see if it worked. And he's safe. He stops people from looking at me as the weird smart girl."

Percy stared at her. "He made you popular," he guessed.

"Yeah, there was that too. But I do like Luke. I mean he's athletic and handsome and popular and I know he can provide for me-"

"So you don't actually like his personality?" Percy interjected.

She froze. "What?"

"All those things you were saying just there. You never said one thing about his personality. Like how nice he is, or how he makes you feel or something." Percy shrugged. "I dunno, it just seems odd."

"Says the guy who's never even had a girlfriend." Annabeth snapped.

Percy met her eyes. "Well, yeah. But if that's what it's all about, looks and money and popularity... I don't want that. When I have a girlfriend, sure I'll have to like how she looks, but I wouldn't stay with her if she wasn't a good person. If she didn't make me feel something. Otherwise she would just be like any other girl."

Annabeth swallowed. "You don't know anything about it."

Percy leaned forward, closing the distance quickly, too quickly for Annabeth to process it before he was speaking earnestly to her. "So tell me right now. Do you even like Luke?"

The answer slipped out, completely by accident. Annabeth was staring into his eyes, caught up in everything. "No," she whispered. "Not really."

The silence that followed was heavy and thick.

"Annabeth."

"Yeah?"

"Would- can I-"

They both jumped as the books Annabeth was holding slid out of her arms and onto the floor, startling them.

Annabeth sat, staring at the books, and she found she couldn't look away. She didn't know why. Why she couldn't just lift her head, or even just her eyes, but she was sitting staring at that damned speller and the math textbook on the floor and she felt Percy's eyes on her and for the second time that day she felt like she wanted to cry.

Gods, she was completely exhausted.

Finally she swallowed and bent down to pick the books up, standing as she did so.

"C'mon, Seaweed Brain," she said quietly. "Time to work."

She didn't look up to meet his piercing eyes, afraid of what she would do if she did.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

Annabeth had tutored a lot of kids, both boys and girls. She had spent time alone with them for hours on end, teaching, talking, joking and laughing with them. She had developed some good friendships from tutoring, some of the kids she still talked to once in a while.

But never, in her life, had Annabeth every experienced what she had with Percy.

Sure she had always found him cute but he was starting to be downright sexy. Annabeth found her eyes sliding from the pages of her book, or the practice quiz she was marking to him while he worked. She would study him. Hair, the way it fell a bit in front of his eyes and he would never push it back, making her have to resist the temptation to do it herself. His face as he solved a problem, the way he frowned at the page before erasing something, or writing down his answer. His eyelashes against his cheeks as he read the instructions, dark and fluttering, long for a boys.

It was Wednesday and Annabeth had started to feel a new air whenever she and Percy got together. She would feel his eyes on her more, would find herself staring at him and need to berate herself in her head. They were skirting around each other more, watching their movements, and Annabeth didn't know why even though she knew she was doing it too.

Whenever she saw him she got a nervous feeling in her stomach, a fluttering that felt suspiciously like butterflies but couldn't be. She also felt an unfamiliar sense of calm and peace, as if as long as he was with her she was fine and didn't have to worry.

She had also started to feel guilty anytime she looked away from him in school or when they were in public. When they passed in the hallways Annabeth would catch herself starting to grin at him, a wide, full-blown grin that she found herself giving to him often, and only him; however she would have to quickly wipe it off her face for risk of anyone seeing it. If anyone saw her showing any sign of kindness to Percy Jackson, her boyfriend's worst enemy, well... things would get ugly, very fast.

Sometimes Annabeth thought Thalia saw the things she did. The daughter of Zeus would give her raised eyebrows on more than one occasion, usually right after she looked away from (secretly!) glancing at Percy once again. And multiple times Annabeth had talked Luke out of tormenting Percy, or defended him in a covert way. Luke would brush it off, not noticing anything, but Annabeth had caught Thalia watching her with slightly pursed lips and a thoughtful expression on her face.

It had been easy, at the start, to tutor Percy. In the first week or so, when she forgot about their social differences and the fact that her boyfriend hated the guy, he had been just like anybody else she had ever tutored. As one week turned into two, and two into three, Annabeth found herself liking him more and more, becoming more comfortable. She smiled more, even when he wasn't there to make her do so, and she couldn't remember laughing as often as she did now, sometimes at things that weren't even that funny. She had gone home one night, checked Facebook, and had seen that Percy Jackson was (for once) online.

She had messaged him, feeling an almost giddy anticipation and slight dread at the thought that maybe he didn't feel their 'relationship' was far enough along for a message outside of tutoring.

But she had caught him staring at her almost as much as she caught herself staring at him, so he had to like her to some degree, right? Even though they had never spoken outside of tutoring except for that one bus ride, she was sure he would reply.

But seconds after her needless worrying she had been put at ease at his reply.

'Hey. :) '

Three letters, one emoticon, and yet it had sent Annabeth to levels of happiness she hadn't expected from a simple message.

But it seemed that the better her friendship with Percy got, the worse her relationship with Luke was. It was fitting, she supposed, since they were pretty opposite, but Annabeth couldn't pretend she wasn't unsettled by it. She found herself getting annoyed at him for the things he did, disliking the things he said, the way he treated people. It seemed that the only times Luke acted like a real human being, like the guy Annabeth had crushed on, was when he was around Thalia. Annabeth found it odd, but she didn't comment. Luke and Thalia had been friends longer than she had known them both; she supposed it was only natural. Nevertheless, she found herself starting to not even no longer romantically like Luke, but also not liking him even as a person.

Yet she did nothing to change it. She bore her way through the times she wasn't having fun- mainly with Luke or any of his other friends- and waited until she could see Percy. Somehow Percy made her feel lighter, forget her troubles, and just be happy. He was a distraction and one she sorely needed. They would talk on Facebook most nights now, simple messages, never longer than three or four sentences, but they were enough for Annabeth to stop worrying. He was the only one who ever seemed to notice when something was wrong with her, the only one who cared enough to ask.

All these thoughts had started to plague Annabeth until she was continually thinking them. She had taken up the bad habit of chewing her lip whenever they entered her head, or when Luke would insult Percy. And when Luke and Percy passed each other in the halls Annabeth would tense, almost expecting Luke to jump him.

Today when Annabeth entered the science lab, she paused at the door. Taking in the layout of the desks, she made a decision. Instead of sitting in her usual spot, at the front, she would sit at the back.

Beside Percy.

Most kids were already in their seats. Annabeth would have been one of them if Luke hadn't held her up, complaining about soccer practice again. Thalia and Annabeth had rolled their eyes when the guys around Luke nodded sympathetically but hadn't dared to leave, not wanting Luke to find something new to complain about.

As Annabeth went and sat down, she felt the stares following her. As she slid into her new spot she got out her notebook and a pen, ready for the class.

She didn't look up until everything was properly set out in front of her, glancing up to check the clock, seeing there was three minutes until the bell, she caught sight of the faces of her classmates.

There was Silena, head cocked as if she had just been asked a complicated question that she didn't know the answer to. Katie, near her, looking surprised but respectful enough to look away when Annabeth looked back at her. The Stolls, with their mouths practically hanging open in pure shock. Clarisse, looking at Annabeth with something that almost looked like respect on her face.

And when she glanced over to look at Percy she saw he was sitting there, facing her, staring like she had just told him she was born out of Athena's skull instead of... you know.

(And no, she did not mean disgusted.)

"Problem?" Annabeth asked him, putting just the right amount of coolness in her voice to stop the suspicious looks.

Percy's lips twitched at the corners but he raised his hands in mock surrender. "Oh no," he replied easily. "Please continue stalking me. I can see you're stepping it up a notch."

Annabeth rolled her grey eyes. "In your dreams," she said loudly. "Seaweed Brain," she added under her breath.

That was the end of the discussion and thankfully, Percy didn't press her.

The bell finally rang and Mrs. Mccoy walked in, exactly on time as usual.

"Percy, Annabeth, you two have been summoned to the principal's office," she said, not looking at them, instead heading directly to the board. "The rest of you, open your notebooks to a fresh page, today we're taking notes."

Again suspicious, surprised looks were thrown at the pair in the back but groans followed the raised eyebrows at the information about notes. Annabeth sat there, confused at the teachers words and when she looked over at Percy she saw him open his mouth.

"Why?"

Mrs. Mccoy finally looked back at them, looking surprised that they were still there. "Mr. D will explain, I think." She said firmly. "You have my permission to go."

And that was that.

Annabeth got up and walked out of the classroom, hearing Percy behind her. When they were both out she slowed her step, waiting a beat for him to walk with her.

"Is this some tutoring thing?" Percy asked her. "I didn't know Mr. D had anything to do with it."

Annabeth shook her head. "No. Or, well, it shouldn't be. I've been called into the principal's office once and only once. I was in grade five and it wasn't good. I hope this isn't anything like that."

Of course, the life of students at Half-Blood High are never that easy.

Oh gods, Annabeth thought as she entered Mr. D's office to see him sitting behind his desk lazily with Thalia and Luke in front of him. This is about Percy and me. They know, they've found out and done something-

She stopped her thoughts. Found out what? What was there for them to find?

She frowned. Nothing, actually. She was tutoring Percy and that was it. So why did she feel like there was something to hide?

"Sit down," Mr. D said. "Unless you prefer to stand."

There were two empty chairs. One beside Luke and one beside Thalia. Annabeth, seeing this, immediately went to sit beside Luke to spare Percy.

Mr. D, Annabeth reflected as she looked at him, was the biggest drunk she knew, even though she had never actually seen him take a sip of alcohol. He had been known for his drinking abilities before he took this job to please his father but even though he always spoke of drinking, he never actually did it. As if he was afraid he would get caught, or there was someone watching him.

But Annabeth knew from her mother's stories that Dionysus could handle his liquor like no one else.

"I'm sure you all know why you're here," he drawled lazily to them.

They sat there quietly, watching him as he stared out his window. Annabeth felt a rising panic fill her. What was it? What had they done? And why was Percy here?

When they didn't answer he looked over at them and rolled his eyes. "Lucas and Perry here were fighting. Isn't that right?"

Annabeth was filled with relief. Oh. That was what this was about.

She wasn't worried, in fact, she even managed a small smile. Luke would get them all out of trouble, exactly like he always did. He was amazing at weaseling himself out of punishments.

"Well?" Dionysus asked, annoyed. "Is it right or isn't it?"

They nodded, still not saying anything.

Their principal heaved a great sigh. "Great. Well, I'm supposed to give you both a slap on the wrists and send you on your way, making you promise to never fight again, blah, blah, blah. But," he paused, pointing at Luke. "I know you, you've been in here plenty of times before. So I know this will most likely happen again no matter what I say."

He paused, as if waiting for one of them to protest, or say anything. But none of them did. Instead Annabeth sat there, wondering who had told on Percy and Luke and why?

Clarisse maybe? Annabeth had heard she had a grudge against Percy for getting a better mark than her in gym class. Or the Stolls, as a joke?

She didn't know. She didn't even try to figure out if it was someone after Luke, knowing all too well he had a lot of enemies at this school. People he's picked on, shown up, etcetra. The list was endless really. For all she knew it could have been Percy, although she doubted it. She figured by now she knew Percy pretty well by now and ratting out others, even if it was Luke, didn't seem like him. Percy, she discovered, preferred to handle his problems alone.

The Stolls, as a joke?

She didn't know. She didn't even try to figure out if it was someone after Luke, knowing all too well he had a lot of enemies at this school. People he's picked on, shown up, etcetera. The list was endless really. For all she knew it could have been Percy, although she doubted it. She figured by now she knew Percy pretty well by now and ratting out others, even if it was Luke, didn't seem like him. Percy, she discovered, preferred to handle his problems alone.

"So," Dionysus continued after the short silence. "Here's what I'm going to do."

Percy spoke up, suddenly. "Um, sir? Why are the girls here if this is about me and Luke fighting?"

Luke and I, Annabeth couldn't help but correct in her head.

The principal shot him a look, obviously not appreciating the interruption. "Tammy and Annie are here because several students said they were involved."

"Thalia," Percy corrected in a slightly annoyed tone, "broke up the fight. I don't understand why she should be getting punished. And Annabeth didn't do anything. She just watched like everyone else in that room."

His words were meant to help her but Annabeth couldn't help but feel guilty again at them. It was true, she hadn't done anything. But she should have.

Mr. D turned to look at Thalia. "Is that true? Did you break up the fight?"

Luke nodded from beside her. "It is," he said. "If it wasn't for her things could have been worse."

It wasn't often that Luke came to the defense of anyone else, Annabeth realized in surprise. She saw Thalia shoot Luke a quick grin, and then do the same to Percy.

Mr. D looked at them all. "Fine," he said, nodding to Thalia. "You can leave now, Thaleesha. You're lucky you weren't in trouble again, or things could have gotten ugly again very fast young lady."

Thalia's eyes hardened at the reminder of her former expulsion. "Yes, sir." She said through gritted teeth, standing up quickly. She walked past Luke, and Annabeth saw her give his shoulder a quick squeeze as she did so. Then she smiled at Annabeth. 'Phew,' she mouthed before leaving the office.

Annabeth grinned. As long as Thalia wasn't in trouble, everything should be fine. Although she was still worried for what Mr. D would do to Percy and Luke.

"So-" Mr. D went to continue but once again Percy interrupted.

"What about Annabeth?" He asked the man on the other side of the desk. "She didn't do anything either."

"She was a witness," Mr. D snapped at him. "She stays." He took a long breath, calming down. "However, Miss. Casey will not be punished."

Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief and shot Percy a quick grin, grateful for him defending her. He had tried at least, and as long as her mother never found out and she wasn't punished, nothing worse should come of this.

"Am I in trouble, or what?" Luke asked suddenly, and Annabeth remembered that he was still in the room.

"You, Mr. Caelan, are not. From what I heard, you entered the cafeteria from your sports practice," Mr. D waved his hand carelessly, "and Percimus stopped you and punched you. Is that right?"

Annabeth's mouth fell open. No, that was not right. Not at all. Whoever had told Mr. D this was a liar and-

A realization struck Annabeth. And obviously had a grudge against Percy.

She glanced over to Luke, disgusted to find a wicked glint in his eye. The anger that followed was probably what caused her to interrupt the two boys, who spoke at once.

"No, that's not-" Percy started.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened." Luke said.

"Are you kidding me?!" Annabeth asked, looking at Luke.

She saw him glance over at her, as if remembering she was still there, and frown. Mr. D looked over at her as well, as did Percy with raised eyebrows.

"What is it, Anne?" Mr. D asked. "Something to add?"

She didn't look away from Luke. "Whoever told you that crap is a liar," she said, feeling a strange satisfaction at the confused, angry and slightly worried look that entered Luke's eyes. "Luke was the one who confronted Percy, who wouldn't let him walk away, and who provoked Percy enough to cause him to hit Luke. Percy only did it to defend himself and his friend and if Thalia hadn't broken the two boys up after that then Luke would have continued it."

Mr. D raised his eyebrows at her, as if in surprise. "Mr. Jackson," he said, almost sounding serious and using the right name for a student for once. "Is that what really happened?"

Percy, Annabeth saw when she glanced away from Luke to him, was staring at her in surprise. "Yeah," he said, swallowing. "Yeah, that's what happened."

"What?" Luke said furiously. "You're going to take the word of two 11th graders over a guy from grade 12?"

Annabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes. At this point she really didn't care what Luke said. He had just tried to frame Percy for something that could cause him to actually get in serious trouble, plus Annabeth was pissed off enough at him already. She was sure now it had been Luke who told Mr. D. Nobody else would want to cross either of the boys like that.

Mr. D leaned back in his chair, completely unimpressed with Luke's outburst. "Mr. Castellan, knowing what I know about you compared to what I know about these two, I am quite sure they aren't the ones lying here." Mr. D sighed, suddenly looking tired. "You understand this warrants a call to your father?"

Luke's eyes suddenly went wider a bit, almost as if he was scared. "No- no, hey, okay. I admit it, I lied. I see that and I'll do detention or community service or whatever it is you want me to do. Just don't call my dad." He stared at Mr. D, face slightly paler than before.

Suddenly Annabeth felt a bit regretful at her words. She knew how things were with Luke and his dad. They weren't good on the best of times. Yes, Annabeth knew Luke wanted Hermes to finally notice him, to realize who he was, that his son was here and pining for something, anything, to bond with his father. But Annabeth also knew Luke wanted Hermes to be proud of his son, and while that phone call would certainly gain his attention, it wouldn't exactly make Luke the greatest son.

"Hey," Percy said suddenly, getting everyone's attention. "It really wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, sure we got into a fight, but it wasn't major. Nobody really got hurt or anything and I'm sure it won't happen again." Percy raised his eyebrows at Mr. D; as if completely calm, but Annabeth could see his fingers gripping the arm rests of the chair he was in. He was not calm. "Plus, how would it look on your record if you let parents know their children were fighting in school?"

That, Annabeth reflected later, was absolutely brilliant. Mr. D didn't care much for the students- or at least he acted like he didn't, but his own record was like his baby. Mr. D did everything he could to keep it perfect.

"You're defending him?" Dionysus jerked his head towards Luke, again looking bored and completely non caring. But Annabeth was starting to see through the act. It was when he acted like he didn't care that he was paying the most attention.

"No," Percy shook his head, glancing quickly at Luke, who was staring at the floor resolutely, then at Annabeth who was watching him, before looking back to the principal. "I'm just pointing out the facts."

It was quiet for a few seconds before Mr. D nodded. "You're free to go, Miss Casey."

Annabeth bit back a retort, instead glancing at Luke, who didn't look up, then to Percy, who was watching her with something like relief in his eyes. She didn't know why, all she knew was that she didn't want to leave. She wanted to wait and see what happened to them.

So she hesitated, but Mr. D raised his eyes to hers. "I'm sure you're teacher would love to have you back in class."

And under the purple stare she withered. Standing straight, head up, she walked to the door of the office, her steps the only sound. She closed the door behind her after leaving; but instead of going back to class she waited beside it.

She was not moving until either Luke or Percy came out.

Her anger at Luke was beginning to fade and suddenly she realized what she had done. She had just blamed her boyfriend over a guy she was supposed to hate. Over a guy who was supposed to be nothing to her.

But Percy, gods, Percy could never again be nothing to her. Right now they were friends. Friends with a chemistry that astounded her, but she had a boyfriend. Anyway, Percy would never want to get swept up in the drama of her life- in fact, Annabeth hardly even let Luke in. Her family, her mother, unreasonable expectations and so on... Plus the bad feelings of Athena and Poseidon.

If anyone found out and somehow Athena ended up knowing... Annabeth shuddered. Surely her mother would punish her, make her stop seeing Percy, even as just a tutor?

So she kept it secret, not willing to risk their time together. Being with him had quickly become the one thing she looked forward to most days. A distraction. It was like with Percy they were in their own little bubble together and nothing else mattered. Not Luke, not her parents, not keeping her grades up... nothing but them. And Annabeth loved it.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the door opened. She stood up straighter in surprise, in case it was Mr. D, but Luke and Percy were the ones who walked out. It was quiet in the office but Annabeth was sure she heard a sigh from inside it.

Luke came out first, and walked straight over to her. "What the hell was that?" He hissed. "Are you trying to get me in trouble? Want my dad to get mad at me? Why did you favour him over me?"

She stood straight, despite him leaning slightly over her. "All I did was tell the truth. Which is more than you can say."

"Don't," Luke said. "Don't you dare. You're my girlfriend, not his, Annabeth, so how about you start acting like it!"

She flinched at his words, and took a small step back. Then she took a breath, composed herself and put her walls back in place, hiding herself. Her words were cool and precise when she spoke. "I know I'm your girlfriend," she said. "But obviously I knew what would happen. I knew if I put all the blame on you, Percy would jump to your defense. Everything worked out fine, Luke," she said, reaching out to touch his arm, feeling how tense he was. "Exactly how I planned it would."

She felt him relax slightly. "How did you know?" He asked her, still not quiet believing.

If Annabeth was being honest, she hadn't. She had fully expected Luke to get a call home, at the least. She had even wanted it. But now, she couldn't bring herself to say that, despite everything.

Gods, what a completely screwed, messed up relationship.

She shrugged. "My mom taught me to always have a plan," she said, avoiding answering.

Luke sighed, stepping back. "Alright then. Thanks. All I got was detentions and stuff, plus I have to do some work for the school." Luke sighed. "I'll see you later. And you," he started, turning to look at Percy.

A heavy, sick feeling filled Annabeth stomach. She had completely forgotten Percy was there, too focused on calming things with Luke.

"Don't say a word," Luke threatened. "To anyone. This does not make me like you, no matter what you said in there."

Percy raised his chin a bit, eyes cold, arms crossed over his chest. "Obviously," he answered.

Luke opened his mouth, about to say something else, before deciding against it and turning around, walking down the hall without looking back.

Before she could follow him, Percy reached out to grab her arm, holding her back, either unaware or ignoring the usual jolt at their touch. When he looked at her his eyes were cold as well as confused. "What was that?" He asked her.

"What?"

"Don't act stupid," Percy said, obviously angry. "What you told Luke. Was that the truth? Or were you lying again?"

The accusation in his tone stung but it also made Annabeth angry. "What do you think?" She challenged, standing straighter until their faces were inches away from one another. "He is my boyfriends after all, remember?"

His grip tightened a fraction and he searched her, eyes taking in her face and finally meeting her own. And when Annabeth met the greens of his, she softened.

"Why do you do that?" Percy asked her finally, his breath ghosting across her own lips, sending a shiver down her spine that surprised her. "Why do you skirt around him?"

She laughed humorlessly, feeling her anger crumble. "Doesn't everybody?"

He shook his head slightly, hair falling to his forehead, causing Annabeth's fingers to twitch at the urge to stroke it back. "I don't," he said finally, quietly.

They stood there together, in the school hallway. Percy holding Annabeth's wrist lightly, their raised arms in between them, the only thing separating their chests, faces less than two inches apart.

As Annabeth stared into his eyes she resisted the almost overwhelming urge to kiss him. He smelled good, a mixture of salt and chocolate chip cookies. You wouldn't think those smelled good together but on Percy they were intoxicating. She breathed deeply, feeling butterflies in her stomach and when she saw his eyes darken a shade, it made her feel a few degrees hotter than before.

They were snapped out of it by the sound of wheels rolling across the tiled floor.

"Annabeth?" Chiron's surprised voice floated down the hall to them. "What's this? Why aren't you in class?"

She and Percy jumped back from one another, arms falling to their sides. "What? Nothing," Annabeth answered hastily before collecting herself. "I mean, we just got out of seeing Mr. D. We were, umm, going back to class."

Chiron was Annabeth's favourite teacher at Half-Blood High for a few reasons. 1. Despite the fact that he was in a wheelchair, he never complained and moved around with surprising speed. 2. He was an amazing teacher and was very understanding, and 3. Annabeth seemed to be his favourite student.

But right now as he took in the two students before him, he seemed to be rethinking the favourite student thing.

"Mr. Jackson," Chiron said, "glad to see you again."

Percy nodded. "Yes, sir."

"You know Chiron?" Annabeth couldn't help but interrupt.

Not that she was surprised. Not at all. It was just... well, Chiron taught smart kids advanced classes. Of course, he could probably have seen Percy in the halls or something...

"Certainly," the old man replied easily, brown eyes gaining an amused sparkle. "I know Mr. Jackson quite well in fact. And now, I'm going to warn you two. The bell rings in about 5 minutes and if you don't want a detention you better move along. Otherwise, I am not responsible for what Dionysus does."

Annabeth nodded, relieved. "Of course, Chiron. We were just going anyway."

Percy nodded. "Yeah."

"Right," Chiron agreed easily, not believing them a bit. His mouth twitched at the corners.

And then they left.

They walked the hall in silence, turning at the corner and walking some more. "So what was that, back in Mr. D's office?" Percy suddenly asked.

"Hmm?"

"Defending me," Percy explained.

"Oh." Annabeth said, caught off guard at the strange question. "Defending you," Annabeth answered him simply.

He raised his eyebrows at her and she bristled slightly, rolling her eyes. "It's not a big deal," she muttered. "Mr. D was wrong; I just told him what happened."

Percy looked at her. "Why?"

Now she sighed, blowing a stray piece of hair out of her eyes. "Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Anymore stupid questions?"

"Oh," was all he said in surprise.

She looked over at him from the corner of her eye as they moved to enter the classroom and saw his lips curved in a small smile.

She couldn't help but grin herself as she turned and walked in the room just as the bell rang.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I know this is overdue, but here it is! The next chapter! You guys know I don't own a thing! Rick gets all credit and rights, etc.**

oooOOOooo

"I don't get it."

Annabeth sighed. "It really isn't that hard," she said quietly. "I don't understand how you can make everything so complicated."

"I make things complicated?" Percy asked incredulously. "Me?"

She looked up from her book to meet his eyes. "Yes. You."

He stared at her in surprise from across his kitchen table. Between them was a freshly baked plateful of chocolate chip cookies, one of which Annabeth was snacking on while reading. Percy was

busy working away at his English homework- naming, identifying and describing themes from Lord of the Flies, conflicts, the realistic and unrealistic characteristics the boys in the book express, etc. Annabeth was reading a book from the school's library, called the Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not. C'mon, Egyptian gods, really? What, were they going to say there was such a thing as monsters and demigods too?

"You're such a hypocrite!" Percy exclaimed. "You complicate _everything_."

Now she marked her page in her book and set it aside, eyes narrowing. "Oh, I do?"

He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Yes, you! You overthink and analyze everything you can."

She frowned. "Do not!"

"Uh, yeah, you do. Ask Thalia, she'd agree with me." Percy retorted before sighing, letting it go. "Anyways, I don't get this."

She sighed again and stood up; bringing her chair around to sit beside him, close enough for their arms to touch. "Alright, what don't you get?"

"Why," Percy asked, reaching over to take another cookie, "all the guys follow that one kid when the other one is the better leader."

"They're trapped on an island away from civilization. There might not even be anyone else out there to rescue them. So they choose a leader, Ralph. But Jack is in charge of hunting and all the boys want to hunt more and catch a pig," she rolled her eyes. "Ralph doesn't let everyone hunt but Jack pretty much wants everyone to hunt so they all follow him instead of Ralph."

"So... hunting? That's why the guys follow Jack, is because they all want to kill a pig?" Percy spoke around a mouthful of cookie after a few seconds of silence as he digested the new information.

"Seaweed Brain," she muttered to herself. "They follow Jack because he's letting them do what they want instead of making them do what they need to for survival. With Jack they can... become hunters, savages. Forget rules and order. These boys are all less than... I think the oldest was thirteen or twelve. They don't know how to survive without adults so they resort to their basic animal instincts."

He stared at her. "So," he said again after a bit, "they want to kill a pig because there's no adults?"

She shook her head, exasperated. "I give up. C'mon, we can finish this tomorrow. We should head to school."

Percy spoke as they packed up their things, not completely letting it go. "I just don't get why they kill the other guy... Simon? And what was up with him anyway? Staring at that pig's head covered in flies all the time. No wonder he went crazy."

"He probably got heat stroke," Annabeth said as they went out the door, Percy locking it behind him. "Or he was mentally sick. The rest of them didn't know it was him until it was too late."

"Yeah right. They probably knew. Like you said before, they were savages. They wanted to kill." Percy shook his head. "But that's disgusting to me. If your friends with someone you should try to save them and take care of them, ya know? You don't kill them."

Annabeth glanced at him at his change of tone. Loyalty must have been a big issue to him. "It's just a book Percy," the only time you would ever hear Annabeth Chase say those words. "Let it go, okay?"

"Whatever," he grumbled. "Hey," he said a second later, perking right up. "There's a swim meet tonight."

"Yeah, I know," Annabeth said. And she did. It was strange, but lately she'd taken to looking up the swim schedule on their school website. Just to see what was happening of course. Not because a certain tutor student was on the team...

"Well, I was thinking," Percy started, and suddenly he looked shy and slightly embarrassed.

Annabeth thought- offhand- he looked cute.

_Snap out of it Annabeth, c'mon girl, don't lose focus again!_

It was something she had to tell herself a lot these days. Since the day they were in Mr. D's office (a week ago), things had just gotten worse- or better, depending on how you looked at it- between Percy and her. She stared at him more often for longer than before, thought about him constantly, ached to be near him and he had started appearing in her dreams the last couple of nights.

Gods, she was like an obsessed girl with a crush.

And don't even get her started on how many times she was caught looking at or thinking about his lips. How many times she had to remind herself that no, she was not allowed to just lean in and press hers to them, no that was not proper.

She stared at his moving lips, not hearing anything he said until he waved a hand in front of her face. "Annabeth?"

She snapped out of her daze. "Huh?"

He pursed his lips slightly, confused. They looked so _soft_...

No, nuh uh. That was once already today, she was not getting caught twice. Snap out of it and listen.

"I was wondering, ya know, if you want to- well maybe you could come- I'm not asking or anything, just wondering- I mean-"

"Percy?" She asked, confused, snapping out of her thoughts. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you coming to the swim meet tonight?" He blurted out.

Her eyebrows rose and her jaw fell open slightly before she closed it. He continued before she could answer, speaking in a rush. "I mean, it's not like you have to, or that I even want you there- wait, no that came out wrong. I mean I don't _not_ want you there. You don't have to. But it would be cool, ya know, if you're into that sort of thing-"

"Do you want me there?" She asked him, ignoring his nervous babble but smiling a bit at his light blush.

His hand reached up to the back of his head to scratch anxiously at the back of his neck. "Well yeah, I mean... sure. I'd like that."

She grinned. "Alright then," she said simply. "I'll come."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she shrugged, pretending not to be affected at his obvious happiness at her answer. His eagerness was palpable as their bus pulled up. "What's not to like, it's a bunch of guys half naked getting into and out of water. Sounds like almost every girl in the school would love it."

Percy frowned at her words, although Annabeth had meant them as a joke. "Yeah," he said, a new tone colouring his voice- one sounding suspiciously like jealousy. "I guess so."

She smiled before stepping on the bus, him following. "I'll meet you before you start swimming then."

She walked to her seat- previously his, but oh well- and he followed. They didn't even get as many looks anymore. Everyone else was slowly becoming accustomed to the fact that Annabeth got on the bus with Percy almost every morning.

She didn't sleep over or anything, gods no. There was Luke, parents, reputations and the fact that they were JUST FRIENDS to stop that before it was even an idea. Annabeth came over early to tutor Percy in the mornings. That was it. No drama, no complications.

Rumours were spreading like wildfire but Annabeth let them. When someone asked her about it, she would tell them the truth- luckily, no one asked about it. And everyone was too scared to say anything near Luke so there was no chance of him hearing. Thalia knew about it already and Piper, Jason and Leo had been made aware that Annabeth was tutoring Percy; and to keep it from reaching Luke's ears.

She smiled as she sat down. Everything was working out. Slowly but surely, things were becoming good.

Her smile faltered as she thought of Luke. She still didn't know what to do about him.

She would just get through the day like she'd been doing for a week and sort it out tomorrow.

Of course she'd told herself that yesterday too.

oooOOOooo

School was a blur. Annabeth called her mom and told her she would be staying after school to watch a swim meet before getting a ride home with someone. Her mother said it was fine as long as she didn't have any homework to do.

Annabeth avoided Luke as well as she could. She stayed near Thalia all day.

Until lunch.

Annabeth and Thalia sat in their usual spot, beside Jason, Piper and Leo.

"So," Thalia asked, voice quiet enough for only Annabeth to hear. "Why are you avoiding Luke?"

"What?" Annabeth looked away from the yogurt she was swirling her spoon in. "I'm not."

"Yes you are," Thalia said right away, staring her down. "Why?"

Annabeth met her eyes for a few seconds, debating whether or not to tell. It would be nice to speak to someone, let it out. And this was Thalia, her best friend. Annabeth had never lied to her before.

But no. She couldn't.

She ended up shrugging, looking down again. "I'm not. Or, if I am, I'm not meaning to."

"Annabeth," her name came out in a sigh. "C'mon, tell me what's going on. You've been so... distracted lately."

"Have I?"

Thalia nodded. "We've all noticed. What is it?" Her dark haired friend hesitated. "Is it something to do with Percy?"

Annabeth nodded, slightly, her willpower to keep silent crumbling. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess."

Thalia studied her for a few seconds before gasping. "Oh my gods, you _like him_!"

"What?" Annabeth's head snapped up to look around, trying to see if anyone had heard Thalia's exclamation. "I do _not_!"

"You _do_," Thalia almost breathed. "Oh, this is... complicated."

"I really don't know what you're talking about," Annabeth said, trying to play it cool.

"Stop the bullshit, I know you, Annabeth, and you like him!" Thalia's eyes were wide. "Wait. What about Luke?"

She grimaced. "That's the thing... I don't know."

"So you're still together?"

"Of course!" Annabeth exclaimed. "What kind of a question is that?"

"Well," Thalia took a breath and hesitated. "Do you still like Luke?"

"Sure, I guess. I mean... it's different with Luke than it is with Percy. With Luke it's all appearances and acts. With Percy... there's something there, something real. I can't think when I'm around him and when I'm not I think of nothing but him."

"So you like Percy more than Luke." Thalia stated, a curious tone in her voice. "That makes things... better."

"Better?" Annabeth asked, confused. "How is that better? For anyone?"

"I dunno, it's just... I dunno."

Annabeth frowned at her.

"Fine, not better." Thalia said. "It makes things worse."

"Thalia," Annabeth pleaded, moving on. "What do I do?"

"Well there's only one thing to do." Thalia started. "You have to-"

"Hey babe," Luke's voice came from behind them and Annabeth jumped, tensing. She turned to look as Luke slid in beside her, across from Thalia. "What are you girls talking about?"

Annabeth grinned and spoke before Thalia could. "Girl talk, none of your concern," she said playfully.

Inside she screamed at herself. What was she doing? Why was she acting like everything was okay when it was painfully obvious it wasn't?

Well obvious to everybody except Luke anyway. He didn't seem to care enough to pay attention.

He rolled his eyes at her and looked at Thalia. "See what I have to put up with? Full of secrets this one."

Luke grinned at them both playfully and Annabeth forced a weak grin in response but Thalia's emotionless eyes stared at them across the table. "Yes, she really is." She said before getting up with her tray and walking around to where Annabeth was sitting. Thalia shot Luke a quick false grin before she bent down to Annabeth's ear. "End things with him," she whispered, "or things will get a hell of a lot worse."

As Annabeth watched her walk away she wasn't sure if Thalia was talking about Luke or Percy.

oooOOOooo

"Woah, this is a lot of people here for a swim meet."

Thalia rolled her eyes at Annabeth's words. "You should come to these things more often. There's usually more people than this."

All day Thalia had been shooting Annabeth looks whenever she had seen her with Luke. Annabeth had ignored them and told Thalia to stop but the girl hadn't. So Annabeth had been in a bad mood for most of the day and Thalia didn't seem to be in a better one.

But they had planned to go to this meet together tonight- Luke wasn't invited for obvious reasons- and here they were. As they stepped into the pool area, Annabeth couldn't help but be surprised at the amount of people here.

The stands were pretty much packed. Coaches, students without anything better to do, friends of people from the swim team, the visiting school's occasional student (Annabeth remembered the biggest opposing school was Goode High School, but there were five schools at this meet including Half-Blood High), school staff and various adult members of the town of Rivers.

"Oh there's Nico!" Thalia exclaimed. "You don't mind sitting with him and his friends, do you Annabeth? They are Percy's friends too after all."

Annabeth's eyes found a little group of people in the crowd sitting in the first and second rows of the stands beside the pool. Nico, Frank, Hazel, the new girl Rachel (Annabeth resisted the urge to grimace), Juniper and... Grover.

She cleared her throat. "Erm, Thals? Grover's over there."

"I know," Thalia said. "I do have eyes. So what? What's wrong with Grover?" She looked over at Annabeth with a frown.

"Well, won't that be... awkward?"

Thalia frowned. "Why would it be? I spoke to Grover only yesterday."

Annabeth almost choked on thin air. "You talked to Grover?"

"Yeah," Thalia said as if it was obvious. "We talk all the time. What's the deal?"

"Umm... does Luke know?"

Thalia snorted. "No. But what he doesn't know won't hurt him. Or," Thalia added, looking at Annabeth from the corner of her eye before looking very resolutely at someone else. "Then again, maybe it could."

Annabeth followed her gaze, distracted from their conversation when she saw that Thalia was staring at Percy.

Thalia sighed beside her. "Go say hi," she nudged Annabeth forward. "I'll go get us some seats. We're sitting with Nico and them, okay?"

"Sure," Annabeth said, hardly listening, forgetting their conversation from a second ago. "Sounds good," she spoke again before going to walk off towards Percy.

Never mind that there were lots of people here to see her. She was just going to say hi and good luck. There was nothing wrong with that.

_Except he's your boyfriend's arch enemy_, a voice whispered in the back of her head. _And most of the people here know it._

She pushed the thought away. No one would be watching her. They were all waiting for the meet to start.

She tapped Percy on the shoulder and he spun around, his face breaking into a smile that sent Annabeth's heart racing when he saw it was her. "Hey Seaweed Brain."

"Hey Wise Girl," he said, sounding genuinely happy to see her. "I'm glad you came."

"Mmhmm," Annabeth said. "Are you nervous?"

Percy scoffed. "Me? Nervous?" He paused before grinning. "A little."

She nodded. "Who are you racing against?"

Percy's eyes scanned the room before he pointed across the pool. "Those guys."

Annabeth turned to look in the direction he pointed and her jaw practically fell open.

4 guys stood outside the change room.

Huge, hulking 6 foot tall teenage boys. All of them with a stupid look in their eyes and evil grins looking around the pool area as if surveying a possible murder scene.

"Them?!" Her voice came out close to a screech. "They're who you swim against?"

He glanced at them and tensed slightly before turning back to her. "Yeah. Them."

She spoke again, voice only slightly quieter. "They look more likely to beat you than compete against you!"

He rolled his eyes at her. "I'll be fine. I've swum against worse."

"Seaweed Brain..." she trailed off, meeting his eyes. Sea green, yearnest, honest, hopeful, happy, excited... proud.

She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him so badly.

Instead she closed her eyes briefly and took a step back. "Good luck." She forced a grin, ignoring the disappointment filling her. "I'll be the blonde in the stands cheering you on."

He watched her carefully, looking confused for a second before relaxing into a grin. "My number one fan?"

"You know it."

His grin widened. "Maybe you'll be lucky enough to get a kiss from the winner." He stepped forward and because of her surprise she didn't step away- not that she would have anyway. He bent his head to whisper in his ear- causing a shiver to rack up her spine and her breath to hitch slightly. "If you didn't catch it, I meant me."

Then he winked and he was walking towards the pool.

She turned in a daze to sit on the stands.

oooOOOooo

She had forgotten about the seating arrangements. Lucky for her (not) she found herself squished in the front bleacher between Thalia and- you guessed it- Rachel. She must have been a mass murderer or something in a previous life because the Fates really seemed to have it out for her.

"So," she said turning to Rachel in an attempt to be polite even though the sight of the red head made her want to knife someone. "Do you always come to swim meets?"

Rachel glanced at her- ugly green eyes, not at all like Percy's- and nodded, hair bobbing. "Ya, every chance I can."

"To cheer on the team?" Annabeth asked casually.

"Sure," Rachel replied. "But mostly for Percy."

Annabeth's mouth tightened. "Percy? What, are you two a couple or something?"

"Ha, I wish!" Rachel replied. "No, just friends. He's helping me find my place around here and we knew each other in New York so..."

Grey eyes narrowed. "Right. How... pleasant. I'm sure he just loves having you here."

Rachel's eyes narrowed at her tone and Annabeth forced her mouth into a smile. "I'm glad we finally have the chance to talk. Rivers doesn't get many new families and I've been so curious about you."

Rachel nodded, looking doubtful. "Yeah, right. So how do you know Percy?"

Annabeth's smile faltered slightly and she glanced at the boy in question; he was walking over to stand in a line behind a diving board.

"Oh, it looks like they're about to start!" She exclaimed, changing the subject.

Rachel turned from their conversation to watch the boys and Annabeth felt Thalia lean closer. "Jealousy is an ugly emotion, A."

"Hush, Thals, they're starting."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she muttered before turning back around to continue her conversation with Nico.

But Annabeth didn't answer- she was distracted.

She knew this was a swimming competition. She knew what that entailed. She knew Percy was on the team and one of the star swimmers.

She had not put together in her head, the little complication of a uniform.

Or rather, lack of one.

If it was anyone else she would have laughed. But... Percy in a speedo... gods, why hadn't she been coming to these things all her life?

He stepped up just behind the diving board and had proceeded to strip out of his shorts and, dear Zeus, lift off his t-shirt.

Annabeth didn't hear a word anyone said to her until Percy got into the water. She was too busy staring.

Gods, those abs! Percy had an eight pack! The muscles in the arms she had seen before, but the chest, those legs and... well let's just say the speedo left little to Annabeth's imagination (read: none). When Percy turned around to talk to his swim coach... she felt her face light up like a fire truck but just couldn't seem to draw her eyes away.

And when she finally did as he stepped up onto the board, she saw that almost every single other girl from their school was practically drooling as well. They weren't all looking at Percy, but enough were to get Annabeth's blood boiling.

Thalia was right. Jealousy was an ugly emotion.

When she glanced back she saw Percy shift on the board and she couldn't help her deepening blush when he looked over at her and met her eyes.

He grinned and she wasn't sure if he looked embarrassed or proud. Whatever it was, she wanted to wipe the smile right off his face.

Or, if you were being technical, kiss it off.

Instead she pursed her lips and blew him a kiss and if she wasn't mistaken it looked like his face may have darkened a shade as well at her action.

Ha. He wasn't the only one who could be... tempting.

But Annabeth forgot all of that when he actually went into the water.

The bell blew, one sharp, piercing sound, and all the boys competing in this race- 6 in total- dived off of their boards and started to swim.

Annabeth had heard before that Percy was the star of the team but she hadn't realized just how much better he was than the rest. He the star, _that_ was for sure, but more than that, he was _fast_.

He was like a bullet. He reached the other end of the pool while the rest of the guys were only in the middle of their lanes. He beat everybody by far in the first race, even his own team members.

Annabeth couldn't take her eyes off of him. Forget the people around her, she watched for an hour as the different heats swam different lengths. Percy moved into the final race (obviously) and although Percy beat the guy by about 7 seconds, one guy from Goode High School named Terrance tailed Percy pretty closely.

"Go Percy!" Rachel screamed from beside Annabeth.

She winced and turned to the girl beside her. "Rachel?" Annabeth asked sweetly.

"Hmm?" Rachel replied without looking away from Percy.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "Could you be a bit quieter please? I know this is a meet but, really, do you need to scream?"

It was because Annabeth was sick of this girl and her obvious crush on Percy that she said it. She really hated being a bitch but it was like with Rachel she couldn't help it. She and the girl had been acting snarky to one another the entire meet.

Now Rachel did look away from Percy with fake surprise. "I'm sorry was I being too loud for you?"

Annabeth forced a smile. "Just a bit."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll try to keep it down."

"Thanks."

"COME ON JACKSON! KICK THEIR ASSES!" Rachel screamed from beside Annabeth before turning to look at her. "Better?"

"You know, actually it wasn't," Annabeth replied, not even pretending to be nice anymore.

"That's too bad," Rachel said. "All I'm trying to do is cheer on a friend. If it's really bothering you so much you can always move."

Annabeth lifted her head and narrowed her eyes. Nobody told Annabeth Chase to move. Definitely not this red headed bitch. "Excuse me?"

Rachel shrugged, once again looking at Percy. "I'm sure there's a spot you'd be more... comfortable, somewhere in the room."

"Actually," Annabeth said, "the noise isn't bothering me anymore." She turned and cupped her hands around her mouth. "GO PERCY!"

Percy glanced over at the girls and smiled, not seeing the glares they shot at each other when he turned away. "Come on Percy!" Rachel screamed.

"You got this Seaweed Brain!"

The nickname just slipped out but suddenly Rachel turned to glare at her full on. "Seaweed Brain?" The red head demanded. "What the hell is that?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, faking nonchalance. "A nickname. None of your business really."

Rachel snorted. "You call him Seaweed Brain? Is that supposed to be endearing?"

"Awww, jealous you didn't think of it first Dare?"

Rachel's eyes narrowed. "Why are you even here?" She demanded angrily all of a sudden. "You have a boyfriend, you don't even like Percy. Unless..." Rachel dragged out the word. "There's something going on with you two?"

No. Annabeth was not going to tell this girl anything. Forget her being Percy's friend, this girl was Annabeth's nightmare.

"Are you serious?" Annabeth demanded of her instead. "You do know who my boyfriend is right? I mean- what you think I'd go out with Percy when there's Luke?"

It came out sounding worse than Annabeth meant. She meant that with Luke there wasn't a possibility of dating Percy. No chance of them being together when she was still with the blonde. Luke would kill them both and Annabeth was not a cheat.

But it came out... differently.

And Annabeth hadn't noticed the sudden lull in sound in their little groups area as she spoke.

Rachel stared at her in surprise and anger flickered in her eyes. "You are such a bitch," she breathed out. "And to think Percy actually likes you, gods..."

Annabeth stared at Rachel, shocked. Then her eyes flicked away as she saw Frank and Hazel turn and Nico and Grover lean forwards to join their argument.

"Are you serious?" Nico demanded, obviously having heard Annabeth's last words.

"No, I- it came out-"

Frank Zhang stared at her and despite his baby faced innocence he looked nothing but angry right now. "This is the Annabeth Chase we've heard so much about? What, do you put on an act around him or something? You're nothing like he described you."

Annabeth hardly heard his words before Thalia pulled her around to face her. "Annabeth," her tone was careful. "What the Hades do you think you're doing?"

"Hey!"

"Yeah, yeah Death Breath, it's your dad, I know." Thalia didn't spare Nico a glance. "Please tell me I didn't just hear those words come out of your mouth."

Annabeth opened her mouth to respond but just then the whistle pierced the air and her head whipped around just in time to see Percy diving into the water.

She had to repress a smile, even then. He was so good- no, great- and he looked so graceful and at ease there in the water.

Her smile melted off her face when a thought struck her. He was so happy. She shouldn't ruin that by getting him messed up in her crappy situations. Here she was, already screwing things up and they weren't even... anything.

And suddenly she was tearing up and Thalia was saying her name but all Annabeth could look at was Percy swimming and winning and imagine his smile.

She leaned down and picked up her bag and stood. Before she could move however, Thalia caught her wrist, stopping her. "Annabeth, where are you going?"

"Let go, Thals," Annabeth's voice was quiet, muted and sad.

Surprisingly, Thalia did as she was told.

"Hey," Rachel's voice cut through to her. "What, are you running away?"

It was one tiny, stupid comment from an insignificant girl but Annabeth felt the moisture pooling in her eyes.

Annabeth just straightened her back and walked past her. She felt eyes on her and looked over to see Grover, staring at her with concern. When he saw the tears in her eyes that she was quickly blinking back, he opened his mouth to speak before closing it again.

Annabeth looked away and kept walking. She and Grover hadn't spoken in years; no need to start now she thought bitterly.

The whistle blew again and Annabeth saw Percy rising out of the water, the other guys following suit.

"And the winner is... Percy Jackson!"

Cheers filled the room and Percy looked around happily. Annabeth watched as he searched the crowd and grinned as happily as she could when his eyes landed on her. She found her feet walking towards him, despite the fact that everyone was either cheering like crazy or watching them.

Percy was handed a towel and had it wrapped around his waist just as Annabeth got to him. "Good job, Seaweed Brain," she said quietly.

"Annabeth?" He asked, smile melting off his face to be replaced by concern as he studied her carefully. "What's wrong?"

His voice cut through her defenses and she felt so weak and vulnerable and naked standing there before him. She always felt like that around Percy, like he saw everything, especially the things she didn't want him to. He stripped her of all and any defense she had and that scared her.

She ignored her thoughts and his words and smiled, small and weak. Pathetic. "You were amazing."

He momentarily forgot about her emotional state. "You must be my good luck charm."

She smiled at his words, not believing them for a second. Behind her she heard shouts.

"Percy!" "Perce!" "Kelp Head!"

She winced. His friends were coming.

Quickly, without a chance to regret it, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. When she pulled away, lips tingling, her tears were just getting bigger. "I'll see you soon, Percy."

"Annabeth-" He turned and spoke as she walked away but she was already too far gone to listen.

With her head ducked, bag clutched to her chest, Annabeth Chase left the pool room and leaned against the cool brick wall, gasping the fresh air.

Taking deep breaths she collected herself before starting to walk, silent tears streaming down her face.

oooOOOooo

**So this is late. In my defense, my internet hasn't been working on my laptop for days, I have been busy writing other pieces and I have become addicted to watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Great show, I'm in love with it, it's so funny. Plus I do have a life people and I need to live it; so that took up a bit of my time as well.**

**But, excuses aside, this is long overdue and I apologize. Am I forgiven because it's here now?**

**Oh and to keep you entertained- next chapter and the one following it will be filled with drama and scandals. Just a tease to keep you coming back for more. **

**Love you all!**

**Percyjacksonfan3**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Rick is the owner of all this and more. He gets the credit for PJO and HOO folks, not me! No matter how much I wished he did.**

**Author's question: What is your favourite book from either HOO or PJO series? Mine, personally, is House of Hades so far. I loved every sentence of that book (even Jason's!) and could not put it down when I got it. Screw school and learning, I'm reading Percy Jackson and it is first priority. Lately I've been so excited for Blood of Olympus it's crazy- therefore my writing comes out more.**

oooOOOooo

"Please, Annabeth," Athena's disappointed voice was the first thing to greet Annabeth as she entered her house that night. "Tell me you did not _walk_ home from the swim meet."

She looked up, eyes dull, feet aching. "Mother-"

Athena wasn't swayed. Hair up in a bun, wearing a red sweater and jeans, she looked as if she had been writing all day. But now she looked angry, disappointed and…. something else. Something, if Annabeth had been looking more closely, she would have seen as caring.

"You told me you would find a ride," her mother stressed. "You said you were going to be with Thalia. Did you lie to me?"

Athena's ignorance of her state made Annabeth feel even worse than she was already. "Mom-"

"These aren't the actions of a responsible young lady, Annabeth. I wish you would plan these things instead of walking to here from town like a hitchhiker."

Annabeth sighed, dejected enough to give up on Athena at the moment. The swim meet had gone worse than she had ever anticipated, she hadn't been able to drown out her thoughts the entire walk home, her feet ached, she was hungry, tired and just flat out miserable. She really wasn't in the mood for her mother to get angry at her again. Wasn't ready to face yet another disappointment. "Yes, mother," she muttered, looking down again.

A new note entered Athena's voice. "Annabeth," she said, quieter than before, "what-"

Annabeth, expecting another round of insults chose to start walking to the stairs leading to her room. "Get mad at me later, mother," she said dejectedly. "I'll come down for supper."

And she left Athena standing there, looking after her daughter worriedly.

oooOOOooo

Annabeth dumped off her school things in her room and went to take a shower. It would freshen her up, she hoped. Besides, she always did her best thinking in the shower.

She got turned the handle to hot and let steam fill the room before slipping out of her clothes, stepping into the white bathtub and pulling the dark blue curtain closed so that she was enclosed by it and lavender coloured walls.

The tears pooled in her eyes before she could stop them and then Annabeth was crying again. She was so sad and hurt and disappointed in herself for letting everyone down again. She hurt everybody, no matter her intentions.

She felt so alone.

Percy's face, so happy and triumphant from his win, filled her mind and the tears just streamed down her face faster. Rachel and everyone else must have told him by now, she was sure. He would hate her. Never want to speak to her again. He would come up to her and tell her he was sick of her being such a bitch all the time and end things between them.

Somehow that hurt more than everything else combined.

And after he did she would try to forget. She would stay with Luke, act like she always had- uncaring about anyone else, ready to leave this godsforsaken place- and move on. She would pretend that Percy was nothing to her and act happier than ever. Nobody would know, everyone would fear her once again, respect her and her status. She would be queen once more, turning a blind eye to everything that was horrible in her life instead of trying to fix it like Percy had made her want to.

But every night she would cry herself to sleep from thoughts of Percy, what she could have had and what could have been. Of what she wanted. She would miss him and it would be a physical ache, her heart would fracture a bit more each time until she was a shell of herself.

She would work hard in school, get a scholarship and go to a city. Not New York, that would remind her too much of him. Maybe somewhere completely random, like San Francisco. She would leave everyone behind and try to forget her life here. Forget who she had become and the things she had done. Forget the people she had hurt, forget the people she had disappointed. She was Annabeth Chase and she would escape.

It would be like a quest, she thought with an almost smile. A quest to finally get out of this place- gods knew she had wanted to for long enough.

And maybe- just maybe, if the Fates were kind- she would meet a guy. They would hit it off and she would forget there had ever been a Percy Jackson.

Or maybe she would see his face the first time they kissed, miss the jittery feeling she got when they touched, like she was a nerve on end. She would miss his humour, how sometimes he could be so stupid but so smart at the same time. The first night she made love to the new man she would wonder what it would have been like with Percy, if he would have been like any other guy or someone special.

She would stay with the mystery man though, and eventually they would get engaged. Annabeth would come back here, hoping to be strong, hoping she would be able to handle it. The plan would be to marry in Rivers. The engaged couple would stay with her parents and she would twirl in dresses, flash the ring, reunite with old people she had called her friends at one time.

Thalia would be her maid of honor, despite the lapses in their conversation when Annabeth had left. They would act just as they always had the first moment they saw each other, friends despite the years and distance. Luke would come and congratulate her, saying he also had a girlfriend. One who changed him, one who had made him the same Luke she had loved. Jason and Piper would still be together, inseparable as they were. Leo would have finally found a girl to appreciate him in all his humorous ways. Katie and Travis would be together, one of them finally gaining the courage to stop skirting around the other and just say 'I love you.'

Annabeth would even make peace with Rachel, wanting no bad karma or energy around her perfect day.

But Percy would be in her thoughts constantly, every day, because Annabeth didn't think she could ever forget him. Despite their relationship- or lack of one- he was a part of her. He had become a part of her fast and unsuspectingly and Annabeth couldn't imagine a day she didn't think of him.

One night, about a week before the wedding, she would see him somewhere. In a bar she had chosen to drink at on a bad night, he would walk in and stop dead in his tracks at the sight of her. They would meet each others eyes for a minute or two, both too shocked to move or speak, until finally he would swallow and she would take a breath and he would walk over, sliding into a seat beside her and ordering his own drink.

They wouldn't speak for a bit, instead covertly taking the others in. She imagines him taller, more muscular, older and more worn. Maybe they would be in their mid-twenties and she would notice, even if no one else could, how the reality of life had changed him. Taxes, colleges, family… relationships. She would see the changes in him as he would in her.

They would start a conversation. A simple hi, a reply back. They would ask about each others lives since graduation, he would crack a joke to ease tension. They would slowly fall back into their pattern. Teasing, arguments, flirting and chemistry that would have been apparent to even a blind man. He would tell her he had gone back to Manhattan, became a marine biologist or something along those lines. He would tell her, watching carefully for a reaction, that he had had several girlfriends but nothing serious, no one he cared enough about to settle down with. He would tell her that he and Rachel had tried things out but hadn't even lasted a month before he broke it off.

He would tell her it had been too awkward since they were friends, that something was missing. But she would know that really, the only thing wrong with Rachel and all those other girls, was that they weren't her.

They would say lots of things, they wouldn't say lots of things. Eventually, after the girlfriend/Rachel conversation Annabeth would show him the ring, tell him she was engaged to a man she had met in college on her way to becoming an architect. He would stare at it, she would see the change in his expression, and the emotions he would feel.

Disappointment, disbelief, anger, hurt, sadness… regret.

She would swallow the revulsion at the sight of the band on her finger. Would smile, lie and tell him yes, she was happy. That the mystery man was good to her and everything she wanted.

But Percy, being the only one who ever could, would see right through her. He would meet her eyes, reach across to hold her hand and say, 'Great. Now tell me the truth.'

Her eyes would tear up and she would look away, a lump appearing in her throat. He was supposed to be an almost, a tutor student. A passing crush at most. Not somebody she fell head over heels for and stole her heart. Not someone she couldn't go a _single_ _day_ not thinking about. Not somebody who broke her heart but still kept the pieces as his and his alone. He was just a boy. A friend who had become the love of her life.

A tear would fall before she regained composure and she would finally push away from the bar, leaving money for her drink and walking out because if she spent one more second in his presence she would either break apart completely or do something she would regret.

But he would follow her and corner her outside the dingy bar. It would be raining and they would be soaked in seconds. She would be distracted by his clothes sticking to his body and his gaze would flick down to observe her own appearance more than once. His eyes would grow darker, his tone lower and he would hesitantly reach out to stroke a stray piece of hair away from her face, brushing it behind her ear. They would both jerk at the sudden electricity their skin contact made them feel and Annabeth would feel her heart start racing.

She would be pressed against the wall and he would step a bit closer, lowering his head ever so slightly. He would groan her name and say in a whispered confession that all through high school he had had a crush on her, ever since he saw her. He had never forgotten her, never gotten over what could have been, what he had wanted. He would confess quietly that he had loved her, that he loved her still.

She would freeze a millisecond before meeting his eyes, hope rising in her even though she tried to push it down. Thoughts of her fiancée would flee and she would forget that this shouldn't happen, wasn't supposed to happen or be this way. She would forget everything except her and Percy.

She would open her mouth, ready to speak, raindrops still sliding down her skin, but he would finally give in and kiss her like he had been wanting to do for years, like she had wanted him to do for years. Hard and desperate and wanting and passionate. Fireworks would go off and Annabeth wouldn't be able to breathe but she would not stop kissing him because it would make her feel _alive_, and _right_, and _happy_ for the first time in years.

They wouldn't be able to stop and that night Percy would bring her back to his place because she would remember she was staying with her parents and the mystery man. He would bring her to his rented house- a temporary place, he would explain hurriedly, until he figured out whether he wanted to go back to New York or stay here. She would nod as he closed the door behind them before slamming into him and sliding her lips against his.

They would strip each other down; fumbling their way slowly to his bedroom, that night Annabeth would come alive like she never had before.

Afterwards, in the morning with sun shining through the windows to highlight Percy's face, she would cry as she watched him sleep and slowly get her things on and head home, careful not to wake anyone and change.

She would explain to her fiancée that she had come home late to find him asleep in their bed and, not wanting to wake him, had slept on the couch. After that she would sit him down, ignoring the insistent ringing of her phone, and calmly tell him the wedding was off.

She would check her phone after he went to pack his things, seeing missed calls from Thalia and three unknown numbers that she later found out to be Nico, Percy and Grover. She would wake her parents and tell them everything, saying she just wasn't happy. She would explain that it didn't feel right and something was off.

Her mother would be angry and disappointed, of course, but Annabeth and her father would convince her and eventually she would realize that it was for the best. Her father would convince her everyone would be happier and Annabeth would leave to appear once again at Percy's doorstep.

He wouldn't be home so she would wait, sitting on his front step. He would come back around lunch and stop after getting out of his car, once again too surprise to do anything.

But she would do the right thing this time. She would stand up and smile, nervous but excited, and tell him she had called off the engagement, showing him her bare left finger. She would go to him and hug him, whispering in his ear that she loved him too, that they were meant to be together against all odds.

He would breathe out and hug her back and Annabeth would know that they were going to work, that this was really happening. They would kiss and Annabeth would later tell he parents that she was in love with Percy Jackson, damn everything else to Hades.

Her mother would get over the fact that he was Poseidon's son and a bastard. Thalia would be ecstatic and Luke would get over everything that had happened in high school and learn to like Percy. They would be friends.

Percy's friends would love her, she would show them that she wasn't who she had been those years ago, that she loved him more than anyone else in the world ever could. She would spend the rest of her life devoted to him. Percy would reintroduce her to Grover and they would be friends just like old times.

She would have everything she wanted and more, she would be happier than happy. She would have Percy, which is all that she had ever needed.

"Annabeth," her mother's voice broke her out of her daydream and everything came crashing back as the knocks on her door disappeared. "Dear, dinner is ready and you've been in there long enough. Will you come out now?"

Annabeth stood there, frozen by sadness from the fact that her daydream wasn't real. "I'll be right there," she called out hoarsely before clearing her throat.

It was several seconds before her mother's footsteps signalled her departure from outside the bathroom door.

Annabeth blinked water out of her eyes and reached back to turn off the water. It was growing cold and she hadn't even noticed, too wrapped up in her thoughts.

It had been a silly fantasy, nothing more, she thought with crushing realization as she dressed. Her life wasn't so easy that she could leave it all behind the moment something went wrong. She wouldn't be able to do it and her mother wouldn't stand it. She was a Chase, and that meant facing your problems efficiently and honourably.

Sometimes Annabeth just wished she didn't have to be the one fixing things all the time. She was sick of everything being her fault. She wanted someone to realize how she was feeling and come asking about her, caring enough to bother. She was sick of being strong.

No, she thought. Pity party over. Stop moping, she told herself, and act like you always do- flawless.

Her smile was completely false as she walked down the stairs to the dining room, but apparently looked real enough to fool her parents.

oooOOOooo

"So how was your day dear," Frederick asked, cutting into his chicken cutlet at the table.

Annabeth looked up, opening her mouth to speak before realizing her father was speaking to Athena.

"Not the best," her mother replied with a sigh. "There's just one scene in my book I'm stuck on and can't seem to get right. No matter what I do the words seem unrealistic and the characters seem downright repellent."

Annabeth's dad reached over to squeeze his wife's hand. "You'll get there," he assured her. "You always do and you're a magnificent writer."

"Hmm, yes well." Athena murmured back. "Not so far. Oh, and did I tell you that Annabeth walked home from school today?"

Both sets of eyes flicked to her and Annabeth realized the pretense of conversation had reached it's destination- interrogation of her. Or, rather, casual conversation at the dinner table about her.

"No," Frederick responded, looking down. "Annabeth?" He asked when he looked up from his food. "Care to explain?"

It was said gently but she grew angry. They treated her like such a child, as if she didn't know what was going on. "What? I walked home from school, big deal, lots of people do it."

"Lots of people who actually live in town," her mother replied not looking at her. "Not people who live out here."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I run there every Sunday. I don't see what the problem is."

Her father frowned. "Annabeth."

"What?" She asked exasperated, playing with her food.

"Don't speak to us as if we're less knowledgeable than you," Athena responded. "We're concerned about you."

"Yeah right," she snorted quietly but both her parents looked at her in shock. She hurried on before they could speak, hoping to ignore the words. "It was nothing, I swear. I just wanted to walk."

"Annabeth," this time her father's voice was gentle and understanding. "We've noticed a change in your behaviour lately… we're growing worried. It seems to have started around the time you started tutoring your newest tutor student."

"We wonder if he's a bad influence on you," her mother supplied.

It was that moment when Annabeth realized her parents didn't know her at all. Since she had started tutoring Percy she had been happier and more carefree and relaxed and all around _better_, than before. Yet her parents thought he was dragging her down, making her sad and giving her mood swings, the cause for her 'erratic' behaviour. (Really, it was a walk home from school, it wasn't like she had been caught doing drugs or drinking or something.)

"It's not him," she replied cooler than before. "It's called being a teenager, geez."

"Even so," her mother replied, obviously not believing her. "We would like to know who he is, to be able to judge for ourselves whether he's appropriate for you to be around."

Annabeth's mouth hung open. "Oh my gods, you've got to be kidding me. This is a joke, right?"

"Annabeth," her dad cut in, a pleading note in his voice. "We're your parents and we love you. We also worry about you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Well stop," she replied, standing up, chair scraping. "I'm not a little girl anymore, I can take care of myself just fine. Gods know I've been doing it for years."

Her mom had an intake of breath and her father stood up as well. "Young lady-" he started.

But she had already turned away and ran up the stairs.

Just an average day at the Chase house, she thought bitterly.

oooOOOooo

She slammed her bedroom door behind her and collapsed onto her bed, lying on her stomach. Today had been such a crappy day, all she wanted was for it to be over already.

She turned her face, opening her eyes as she did, and they landed on her computer. On a sudden whim she logged in and opened Facebook, checking her message inbox.

She was half filled with dread and half filled with curiosity and hope at the sight of six messages from Percy Jackson.

After a minute of staring at the screen she moved the mouse and opened their conversation.

The first message read: '_you okay?_'

The second: '_Annabeth?_'

And so on. _'Was it me?'_

'_am I getting the silent treatment?'_

'_I'll give u a cookie if u answer me'_

'_talk to me. please.'_

Gods, why was he so damn caring? He was the only one who bothered asking her how she was. He was trying to talk to her, wanting to understand. He thought it was _his fault_. She felt another lump in her throat and moved to log out before seeing the sign appear- Percy is typing.

Finally the message appeared. '_I see that you're online and read them. I'm not stupid_.'

Annabeth didn't do anything. She just waited to see when he would finally go offline, giving up on her.

It happened a few minutes later.

'_Fine. Don't tell me. I can see I'm being ignored._' A few seconds later:_ 'See you later.'_

Annabeth resisted the urge to reply, not knowing what she would say, as she saw his name go from her online to offline list. She swallowed, throat dry, and logged out, going once more to lay on her bed.

Eventually she managed to fall asleep, thoughts of Percy never leaving her mind.

oooOOOooo

Daffodils. That was what Annabeth woke up to.

If you want to b technical, she actually woke up to her father, knocking on her bedroom door saying her name.

"Annabeth? Annabeth, honey, open up please."

She didn't reply.

After four minutes or so he sighed so loudly she could hear him from where she lay on her bed. "Alright then. I'll just tell you that a boy was here earlier; he dropped these off for you." There was a rustle at the floor on the other side of the wood and silence for a few seconds, as if he expected her to open the door. He sighed loudly once again and left, leaving whatever he had put at her door.

She sat on her mattress, hugging her knees. The boy, she determined, must be Percy. Unless it was Nico, Frank or Grover dropping off something unpleasant as a practical joke. And if it were Percy….

… she could expect anything really. Rachel must have taken the chance to tell him what she did, and if not him than even Nico or anyone else that had been there. Thalia, Annabeth remembered, hadn't been too happy with her when she had left either.

And what had she done?

Exactly what Rachel had accused, Annabeth thought bitterly, she had run away.

So what could be on the other side of that door?

Unable to resist she got up and walked towards it, opening it a crack. Enough to peek out and see if anybody was there.

The house was deserted. With a quick grab she swiped the objects on the floor and closed the door behind her as she turned.

She looked down as she walked back towards her bed. The flower stems were smooth in her hands and she smiled a small smile.

They were from Percy. They had to be.

The bouquet was a mixture once again. Daffodils made up most of it, along with a couple of gladiolus flowers. Then there were some iris's in a circle around the center. They were beautiful. Several lavenders sprinkled around the sides, an orchid, a red rose, a yellow rose, a tulip and several violets.

Annabeth smiled again, wider as she remembered all of their meanings. A red rose was love and desire- she tried not to read too much into that. Percy may not have realized, he may have just known red roses were the classic flower to give a girl. A yellow rose symbolized love and friendship… Percy obviously just meant friendship, she told herself. Violets- faithfulness, which was reassuring. An orchid, love and beauty. Was he calling her beautiful? Annabeth felt flutters in her stomach at the thought. Gladiolus flowers were strength of character, something she had told them their first tutor session. He must have remembered, she thought. The compliment made her feel more reassured than before; maybe he didn't hate her after all. Lavenders that signified loyalty- a strong characteristic in Percy that Annabeth had noticed. Iris's, which meant faith and promise…. that was interesting. Annabeth wasn't sure what his message with those were. A tulip meant love and passion… another cause for Annabeth to blush.

And finally, making up the rest of the bouquet, daffodils.

Their meaning was forgiveness.

In all, what did it mean?

Well-

A note fell out before she could think it through. With trepidation she picked it up and read it.

_I called Thalia and Rachel and they told me what happened at the meet, _it read. _Care to talk about it over a study date and cookies?_

_P.S.- I hope you like the flowers. I picked them all out specifically for you._

Annabeth tightened her grip on the plants in her hand and bit her lip.

So many flowers meaning loyalty, faith, forgiveness… he must forgive her. He must realize that she hadn't meant it, that something had been wrong. He must have believed _in her_.

That had been more than Annabeth had dared to hope for. But Percy was Percy, how could she have ever thought he could just toss her aside?

And then there were the flowers that symbolized love…. promise… passion… it made Annabeth wonder…

Well. Whatever it was she would find out soon. No point in getting her hopes up.

She froze when she realized what she was thinking. Love? Getting her hopes up? What was this? Sure, she had a little crush on Percy- one he may reciprocate!- but that was not love. Annabeth had never loved anybody but her family and Thalia before. Even Luke…. she didn't love him. And she never had or else it wouldn't have gone away; love was eternal. It could not die. That was why it was so rare and precious. No matter what the person did, or what happened to them, you would always love them and care. That's what it was.

Annabeth had never actually been in love before- the idea was unimaginable.

But, the more she thought about it the more she saw herself falling in love with Percy. Gods, if she didn't know any better she would say she already was in love with him.

But no. That was ridiculous.

Wake up, Annabeth, she scolded herself in her head. First you need to get rid of Luke and start a real relationship with Percy if you want things to go any farther. You can't love him, you hardly know him.

But that wasn't true. She knew Percy was loyal to a fault, that he was rebellious. That people thought he wasn't the smartest but didn't see how observant and intelligent he really was. She knew that Percy's mother was the most important person in his life. That he would do anything for his friends. She knew he missed New York, loved it, despite all of its flaws. Annabeth knew that he scratched the back of his neck when he felt awkward or anxious. That he was an amazing swimmer and proud of it, but he would never brag because that wasn't who he was. That he was the nicest, most caring guy. That he made Annabeth feel the best she had in her entire life. She knew he hated school but did the best he could for his mom. That he loved both Paul and Poseidon, but tried his best to get Poseidon to acknowledge him, praise him, despite his absence in Percy's life.

That he was more attractive and sexy than any other guy she had ever known. He was the skater boy type, to be sure… but he made it work.

Annabeth knew that Percy was the only person to know her. He could spot a change in her in a second. She knew that he had gone to all of this trouble, getting flowers and writing a note despite being dyslexic, just to put her at ease. He was willing to forgive her, talk to her and let her explain.

She looked back down at the flowers. He was the perfect guy for her, he really was. She wanted to go up to him and kiss him, tell him that he was hers forever.

That's what Annabeth wanted.

And, she thought with renewed determination and a plan, what Annabeth wants, she will get.

oooOOOooo

**Hello lovelies! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter actually, despite the sadness of it. Get ready for some serious Percebeth in the next chapter and some quotes from the series…. specifically Battle of the Labyrinth…. I'll let you figure it out.**

**What did you think? Leave me a review and let me know! **

**Love you all!**

**Percyjacksonfan3**


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